How diet culture can be harmful

Some of the messages that diet culture promotes may sound like they’re about health. In reality, many of them lead to unhealthy behaviours, such as:

• excessive calorie restriction (eating less than your body needs to function well)
• cutting out essential macronutrients like fat and carbohydrates
• exercising too often, too intensely, or in ways that you don’t enjoy
• not allowing yourself to eat for pleasure
• taking steps to prevent natural and healthy aging, such as extreme cosmetic surgery

Dieting is different from managing your weight by following a balanced diet. For most people, dieting is not a sustainable way to keep excess weight off in the long-term. It is also a major risk factor for eating disorders and can lead to low self-esteem, stress, and depression.

The truth is that we can’t know how healthy someone is simply by looking at them or knowing their weight. Good health is about much more than the numbers on a scale. It’s about fueling your body and mind with nourishing food, finding enjoyable ways to move your body, and loving yourself, whatever your size.