The U.S. dieting industry made more than $90 billion in 2023. (The global dieting market amassed more than $224 billion.)
Individuals who participate in diet culture are 18x more likely to develop eating disorders than those who don’t. (NEDA.org)
And only 6% of those at-risk individuals are underweight.
Did you know that someone in a larger body can be suffering from life-threatening anorexia—and their healthcare provider can easily overlook it due to weight bias? In fact, the patient may even be praised for losing weight.
Sadly, children and teens exposed to the dieting industry are 242 times more likely to develop eating disorders than Type 2 diabetes. (Unapologetic Eating by Melissa Rumsey)
And eating disorders have the 2nd highest mortality rate of all mental illnesses, next to opioid addiction deaths.
In the United States alone, someone dies as a direct result of an eating disorder every fifty-two minutes. (Eating Disorder Coalition)
Once someone breaks free of diet culture, it can be recognized a mile away--especially on social media—and especially this time of year.
Here are just a few of the telltale signs of diet culture influence:
vocalizing phrases such as "I'm not allowed to" or "I'm not supposed to" when referring to food choices
lack of innate ability to self-regulate hunger/fullness cues due to others’ input; resulting in precision eating formulas and precision size formulas, daily weight checks, rigid food rules, tracking every morsel of food and amounts
ads for diets, programs, challenges, detoxes, and boot camps marketing weight loss and thinness; going on and off these programs
feeling guilty, anxious, shameful, demoralized if one gains weight—or not losing weight quickly enough; scales dictate emotions and fears
vocalizing hatred of body; hiding body; body dissatisfaction; body size and weight dictated by others
increasingly undereating, fasting, and/or skipping meals in order to see the numbers on the scale drop faster; denial of resulting malnourishment and its adverse consequences
the pursuit of thinness over mental health and well-being; denial of the life-threatening dangers of eating disorders and complete disregard for preventing them
publicly sharing before/after pictures; frequent weight checking and mirror checking
celebrity-like worship of weight loss stories
commenting/gossiping about someone's body size or weight gain (fat shaming)
life revolves around food, food amounts, food tracking, pictures of meals, obsessive weight-tracking, selfies, workouts; including sharing "what I eat in a day" pictures and videos; constantly thinking about, and talking about food—and it taking up an inordinate amount of headspace
"air of superiority" and condescending disapproval of what others eat or don't eat; labeling others' food choices as good, bad—regardless of their socioeconomic status/privileges
Nutrition is necessary for survival, health, and well-being.
Eating is not the enemy.
Dieting is.
When one’s focus shifts to weight loss instead of nourishment to sustain life, it becomes a slippery slope into the dark world of disordered eating. . .which can quickly turn into a full-blown eating disorder.
Eat to live. . . and thrive in 2025!
How Being a Weight Loss Success Story Triggered an Eating Disorder
Movie trailer: Dying in Plain Sight
Emily Boller, wife, mother, artist, and author is on a mission to create expressive works of art in her lifetime; and to bring awareness to the potentially harmful traps of diet-wellness culture.
In her free time, she loves to chase sunrises, grow flowers and vegetables, and can homemade soups.