What does the word ‘diet’ mean to you?


Ditching Dieting – speak out against the misery caused by the diet industry

This year we have started a campaign to expose the role of the diet industry in de-stabilising women and girls’ appetites and desires. We believe that eating disorders and the so-called ‘obesity epidemic’ are merely more visible extremes of a much bigger, everyday phenomena: that we are accepting fear and hatred of our own bodies like gravity, that we are accepting ‘I am not good enough’ as a fact.In the past weeks we have once again been swamped with headlines announcing an obesity crisis and we have seen news stories with the message that children may be taken away from their parents if the kids’ BMIs are deemed offensive or threatening. This ‘crisis’ is constructed from research funded by the industries that can make money from it, such as pharmaceutical and diet industries.

The diet industry claims to offer solutions – to the ‘crisis’ it has just funded researchers to determine. However, there is overwhelming research stating that it is the process of restricting food that leads to a consequent weight gain, meaning that diets ultimately make you fat.

Diets are set up to fail us so we will return to them again and again. The health risks of yo-yo dieting are higher than those of being "overweight" or "obese" (categories on the BMI scale).

If you are moving around, living your life, and listening to your own desires -eating when you are hungry, stopping when you are full, eating precisely what you need and want in that moment – then you should not feel your health threatened by being in the ‘obese’ box on a flawed BMI chart.However, this kind of intuitive eating becomes harder and harder under the onslaught of methods to make money from your body.The diet industry claims to offer comfort, support andsolutions to make your world a happier, healthier place. We want to gauge from your responses how diets are really affecting the lives of women in this country.

Help us by answering as many of the following questions as you wish:
• What does the word ‘diet’ mean to you?
• What did you hope would happen as a result of your dieting?
• What effect has dieting had on your life?
• Do you feel guilty when you aren’t dieting or restricting your food in some way?
• Have you ever had a carefree time of eating?
• Can you imagine making peace with your body?

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." - Margaret Mead

There are lots of ways that people can contribute to this campaign.

If you are an artist, filmmaker, photographer or creative spirit you can contribute some of your work to our campaign. We are always interested in seeing and sharing new and imaginative ways to challenge the limited representation of bodies in our current visual culture.

If you are a writer, blogger or social media activist you can help spread the word about our current campaign. Inform yourself (hyperlink to page with facts and figures), share your opinion and direct people to our website for further information.

If you are a parent, teacher or youth-worker you can save the next generation from the misery of body hatred by encouraging the young people in your life to question the motives of the industries that promote insecurity and by sharing our website.

If you work in an industry that contributes to the growing problem of body anxiety you can play a key part in creating change. If you work in advertising, beauty or fashion take the opportunity to celebrate diversity of size, race, age and ability. If you work in weight loss, fitness, cosmetic surgery or pharmaceuticals you can promote health at every size. Remember, it is in your interest to develop and promote products and services that people want to spend their money on. As campaigns like Endangered Bodies receive growing support and recognition, we can expect the public will become less accepting of marketing campaigns that aim to profit by selling insecurity.