I recently wrote about the dangerous downsides of dieting, including eating disorders. I saw a post that clearly illustrates one of the issues from Anna Sweeney MS, RD, LDN, CEDRD-S, known on social media as @DietitianAnna I know her to be an incredible dietitian and a fierce advocate for her clients and for intersectional social justice. She posted:
My client unenrolled from Weight Watchers two years ago. They asked for a reason for her departure. "I am being treated for an eating disorder," was her response. WW, new name, same game, started emailing her again at the start of the year.
This further reveals a serious issue within the diet industry - they perpetuate eating disorders, they do it with impunity, and they don't seem to care.
Surely anyone who is a professional within the diet industry should be aware that their product is based on behaviors that are red flags for eating disorders (counting calories - whether you call it calorie counting, "points" or something else - moralizing food, frequent weigh-ins, using activity as a way to "earn" food etc.)
Even if they don't care that enticing people into these behaviors can trigger a full-blown eating disorder (and let's be very clear - they absolutely should care) at the very least they should know that if someone discloses to them that they actually have an eating disorder, they should never, ever, under any circumstances contact them again (unless, of course they are sending an apology and check to compensate for their involvement.)
Eating disorders can be deadly, and they are being perpetuated by an industry with so little ethics that they continue to sell a product that has a failure rate that hovers right around 100%, with a majority of people experiencing the exact opposite of the intended effect.
They lie to us, they harm us, and they have no shame about it. We can walk away from them and never come back.
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