Hidden Diet Culture Messages Are Everywhere

When you look at yourself in the mirror, what do you usually see? Do you notice every little imperfection, or do you celebrate yourself? If you focus on the former, know that you are not alone. In fact, in being born in our current society’s culture, your brain has actually been subconsciously trained to view yourself in that way.

With social media, entertainment like movies, TV shows, and magazines, social discussions, and other environmental influences, we are constantly exposed to messaging about the latest trends for diet, fashion and exercise. From a young age, we are shown what the “ideal” body looks like, we are told what foods should be avoided, and we absorb that if we do not look a certain way or follow a certain trend, we are seen as “less than” and unattractive.

And all of this funnels down into one big idea and belief that we are all vulnerable to: diet culture.

What is diet culture?

 

Diet culture is an umbrella term that refers to the belief system that thinness and appearance should be valued over health and overall wellbeing, and that they should be perpetually sought out during our lives (1). Diet culture equates thinness to health and imposes the belief that if you are thin, you are superior to those who aren’t (1). It is deeply intertwined in our current society, and shames those who don’t “fit in”.

 

Diet culture also places importance on actions like: undereating; exercising to prevent from (or for punishment for) being fat; labeling foods as “good” and “bad” and demonizing the “bad” foods; normalizing thinking and talking negatively about yourself, and more (1,2). With all of this negativity and rigidity, diet culture deeply harms our potential relationship with food and our bodies from a young age and can begin to explain why the prevalence of eating disorders and disordered eating are continuously on the rise (3). It also doesn’t help that “wellness culture” has developed to embody positive steps to take for our wellbeing, yet often enforces the values of diet culture.

How to spot diet culture within wellness culture?

 

As a brief description, wellness culture proposes that a certain set of behaviors can help one achieve overall health and wellbeing, and is structured in a way where there is pressure to keep improving and keep getting healthier. Does that sound familiar? (Hint: take another look at our description of diet culture). Because of this, wellness culture can actually continue to sneak diet culture messaging into our everyday lives. 

A notable example of this is the wellness culture “hack” of reaching 10,000 steps a day. First off, where did “10,000” come from? Why not less or more? In fact, 10,000 steps isn’t a science-based recommendation, but a number created to market a pedometer in the 1960s (4). Now, wellness culture has adopted the ideal of reaching at least 10,000 steps a day to improve physical health, and although adding more movement into your day may not be likely to harm you physically, it can have significant impacts on mental health and other aspects of wellbeing. For one, it can put pressure on us to always reach the goal, rather than move mindfully, or rest if that’s what our bodies need the most. It can also become obsessive, intrusive, and make us feel ashamed or guilty if the goal isn’t reached.

Another example of how diet and wellness culture intertwine is how wellness culture equates a certain body shape and type with “health,” where anyone outside of those “ideals” are deemed unhealthy or undesirable (5). Wellness culture makes us feel like by “eating clean”, doing a “liver detox” or a “body cleanse or reset,” we will make ourselves healthier, and believe that our bodies are incapable of doing them on their own (which they can). It also makes it seem that following wellness tips is the only way to achieve true wellness (6). 

To observe this yourself, try noticing how many diet/wellness culture messages you can find around you in a day, week, or month. Have you experienced any of these before? 

  • Commenting, congratulating or complimenting someone’s weight loss and/or having opposite reactions towards weight gain
  • Doctors or health care professionals recommending weight loss, without considering or investigating other factors (or recognizing that there is little evidence for weight loss as a first line of treatment)
  • Ads portraying unrealistic weight loss “tips and tricks” 
  • Movies and TV shows making fun of the “fat person” or characters acting like there’s nothing worse than weight gain
  • Being recommended restrictive diets labeled as “healthy,” like Whole30, gluten/dairy free diets (when there is no allergy or intolerance), Noom, Weight Watchers, intermittent fasting, the ketogenic diet, etc.
  • Social media showcasing weight loss strategies and selling products that can help with weight loss or increasing metabolism
  • Hearing foods labeled as “good” or “bad,” “healthy” or “unhealthy” 
  • Being praised by others for resisting a food deemed as “bad/unhealthy”
  • Eating “bad/unhealthy” foods with the promise to exercise later as compensation for it 
  • Hearing comments about “earning” cheat days 
  • Someone sharing they “shouldn’t” eat a certain food even when they want it
  • Being told or hearing sayings like “a moment on the lips, a lifetime on the hips”

These are just a few of many examples of how diet culture can sneak its way into our daily lives. Being aware of how prevalent this messaging is can not only help you think critically about it, but can also help you push away from a diet culture mentality.

Conclusion

 

We hope this article shows that it is not inherently easy to develop a positive relationship with food and your body, so know that it is not your fault if you are struggling with them. We were all born in a society that is filled with messaging that convinces us that we are not enough as we are and that if we don’t look a certain way, there is something wrong with us (and not the culture). If you would like to work one-on-one with a dietitian who can help guide you through this process, contact us at info@sooma.ca or at (514) 437-4260, and we would be happy to chat!

If you are struggling and need help, click here to book an appointment directly with one of our team members!

Written by

Picture of Justine Chriqui

Justine Chriqui

Registered Dietitian

References

  1. Daryanani, A. (2021). Diet Culture. Retrieved from https://recreation.ucsd.edu/2021/01/diet-culture-social-media/
  2. Chastain, R. (2019). Recognizing and Resisting Diet Culture. National Eating Disorders Association. Retrieved from https://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/recognizing-and-resisting-diet-culture/
  3. Graber, E. (2021). Eating Disorders are on the Rise. American Society for Nutrition. Retrieved from https://nutrition.org/eating-disorders-are-on-the-rise/
  4. Reynolds, G. (2021). Do We Really Need to Take 10,000 Steps a Day for Our Health?  New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/06/well/move/10000-steps-health.html
  5. Harrison, C. (n.d.). Wellness Culture. Retrieved from https://christyharrison.com/wellness-culture
  6. The Bulimia Project. (2023). The Harms of ‘Diet Culture’ & How to Resist. Retrieved from https://bulimia.com/eating-disorders/diet-culture-harm/

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