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Simone Godde
THIS Saturday, May 6 is International #NoDietDay, an annual social media campaign to encourage the rejection of diet culture. This movement, started by Mary Evans Young in 1992, celebrates the importance of body acceptance, diversity, and respect for all body shapes and sizes.
Eating Disorders Victoria (EDV) states alarming figures like:
- 55 per cent of Australian girls and 57 per cent boys aged eight to nine years are dissatisfied with their body (Daragnova, 2013);
- Weight-related teasing in children is associated with disordered eating, weight gain, binge eating, and extreme weight control measures (Golden, Schneider & Wood, 2016);
- Nearly half of Australian women and one-third of Australian men are dissatisfied with their body (NEDC, 2017);
- Weight-loss dieting is a risk factor for the development of an eating disorder, and dieting frequently precedes the onset of an eating disorder (Butryn & Wadden, 2005).
National Eating Disorders America (NEDA) state ways to reject diet culture include:
1) Question cultural messages about food and weight;
2) Accept and respect your body;
3) Promote body diversity and encourage others to do the same;
4) Trust your body to know when it is hungry and when it is full, and;
5) Work to eliminate body shame and stigma.
On top of this, it’s clear that methods promoted by the weight loss industry are rarely successful in helping people to lose weight. The proliferation of messages about the ‘ideal body’ and the ‘dangers of obesity’, and behavioural responses to those messages – including people going on fad diets, and engaging in both unhealthy and ineffective weight loss behaviours – is at the core root of this problem. Further discrimination faced by people who do not fit in with society’s perception of an ‘ideal’ or even ‘acceptable’ body is known as weight stigma.
What’s more, diets are often a quick fix, involve unhelpful all-or-nothing thinking, yo-yo weight fluctuations and pose no lifelong solution to one’s health.
So, this Saturday, why not plan ahead by considering a food celebration with your favourite food. Visit a farmers market – buy something you have never tried before; eat a meal without distraction; cook a new recipe, or plan three non-food things that bring peace to your day.
In the words of Linda Mitchel: “Sit up and say ‘Enough.’ You are enough. I am enough. We are enough.”
If you, or someone you care about is experiencing weight stigma or maybe has an undiagnosed eating disorder, get in touch with your local general practitioner, allied health or mental health practitioner. Other contacts include:
EDV Hub – phone 1300 550 236; email hub@eatingdisorders.org.au
Lifeline – 13 11 14
Suicide Helpline – 1300 651 251
The Butterfly Foundation (8am-12am, seven days) – 1800 33 4673
Simone Godde is an Accredited Practicing Dietitian based in Sale.
