With the semester back in full swing, talk about diets has come with it. Diet culture is so deeply embedded in college life, that we may not even recognize how harmful it may be. As Anita Daryanani, UCSD Dietetic Intern explains, “‘Diet culture’ refers to a set of beliefs that values thinness, appearance, and shape above health & well-being. Additionally, the concept places importance on restricting calories, normalizes negative self-talk, and labels certain foods as ‘good’ and ‘bad’. Individuals subjected to ‘diet culture’ messages have been conditioned to believe that not only does thinness and dieting equate to health, but that the pursuit of health makes one person morally superior to another.”
Here are some things to stop talking about, as it does much more harm than good. And frankly, no one cares.
- Weight
To be real with you, there is no reason why anyone needs to know your weight. It’s completely normal to get uncomfortable when someone randomly shares theirs. Especially when they share it in hopes of getting validation or even concern. Talking about weight can lead to unnecessary comparison, as no two bodies are the same.
- Fads Diets
Oh my god… Let me tell you something girl – no one cares about your keto, low sugar, no fat, miserable lifestyle. By removing sugar from your diet, you can get rid of 99% of your happiness! There is so much data negating the effectiveness of all of these diets and encouraging the use of intuitive eating. Unless you have a legitimate illness that REQUIRES you to change your diet, then for real – let it go.
AND THE WORST…
- “Not eating all day”
Good for you? Do you want a medal? A dietician? This isn’t healthy or cute. Food is the legitimate fuel your body runs on.
Like gossip, these conversations are cheap, dry, boring, easy to engage in, and have little substance. There are so many more interesting things to talk about. When conversations begin to go towards these topics in a negative way, think about the people you are surrounding yourself with and if you have anything in common.
People may engage in such harmful talk for a variety of reasons, but the impact it has on others can be truly detrimental. Diets and weight can lead to extremely toxic levels of comparison and competition. At least 9% of the global population struggles with a diagnosed eating disorder, you truly don’t know how your comments may impact someone. Even by casually bringing up how much weight you’ve lost on a fad diet you saw on TikTok, you are spreading the message that ignoring your body’s needs is okay.
Diet culture has been embedded in us Gen-Z members for most of our lives, leading to an underlying belief that we must be in constant pursuit of weight loss. Our parents’ response to the diet industry boom of the 90’s normalized significant means of unsustainable restriction as a success regardless of the harm it may do to one’s physical or mental health. As a generation, we have made incredible strides toward fostering a body-positive and body-neutral society; however, there is still a great amount of work to be done. If we make the effort to move forward, we may be able to create the most positive environment possible for future generations. If we continue to engage in harmful talk and conversations, we will see future generations caught in the cycle of body hatred and fad diets.