Online exclusive
As well as Jennifer Bowden’s columns in the NZ Listener and here at listener.co.nz, subscribers can access her fortnightly “Myth busters” column in which she explores food and nutrition myths. This week she looks at how the desire for healthy eating goes too far.
In a culture dominated by wellness fads the line between healthy eating and an unhealthy obsession often blurs.
While nourishing our bodies with whole foods is important, this quest can spiral into disordered eating behaviours, including orthorexia – an extreme preoccupation with healthy eating. Social media, with its endless stream of idealised images and health advice, contributes significantly to body image concerns and disordered eating.
However, a new study suggests pop icon Taylor Swift may positively influence youth by promoting healthier body-image perceptions. So how do we know if our healthy habits have become harmful?
Healthy eating advice, or what masquerades as “health” advice, is everywhere: the internet, radio, books, magazines and even children’s television. My youngest son watches Netflix show Bread Barbershop, which I had assumed was a harmless kid’s cartoon (and you know what they say about assuming). In a recent episode the Queen is embarrassed about her body and asks Bread the Barber to help hide her weight for public appearances. The message is clear – even to kids: being fat is embarrassing, being thin is better.
Thinness is often conflated with good health and fatness with poor health in Western cultures. Indeed as a culture we give social status to weight loss, often moralise about food choices and encourage people to control and restrict foods and exercise behaviours – none of which is beneficial to our physical or emotional well-being, with studies finding upwards of 84% of women are dissatisfied with their bodies, irrespective of age. Women are taught from an early age to desire thinness.
Even pop phenomenon Swift is not immune to society’s pressure to be thin. In her 2020 documentary Miss Americana she said how difficult it was to see photos of herself as she had felt she was too big – an experience worsened by comments suggesting she looked pregnant. Swift admitted to starving herself to the point that during her 1989 tour she almost passed out on stage. Swift acknowledged her experiences with disordered eating during this period and is open about her recovery.
However, the challenge with disordered eating is that many of its symptoms are celebrated as successful dieting behaviours in Western cultures. For instance, a woman who is always on the latest fad diet – whether Atkins, keto or intermittent fasting – and constantly restricts certain food groups may be seen as a committed healthy eater.
However, this pattern of behaviour is often a symptom of disordered eating. So too are feelings of anxiety around social gatherings that involve food or guilt for eating cake at a friend’s birthday. If you feel guilty for eating certain foods, or that you need to “make up” for eating cake or sweets by skipping meals or restricting food the next day, or you have such rigid routines that you refuse to miss a workout even when you’re sick or injured, it may be time to reassess your relationship with food as these may be signs of disordered eating.
Orthorexia, in particular, is a specific form of disordered eating in which the focus is less on weight and more on an obsessive desire to eat “pure” or “clean” foods. People with orthorexia have such rigid rules around food quality that it can lead to severe restrictions, malnutrition and social isolation.
If any of this sounds familiar, it’s important to remember that you’re not alone. In a culture that rewards unhealthy behaviour as a dedication to wellness, disordered eating can sneak up on us. But no diet or thin body is worth sacrificing your physical health, mental well-being, or relationships for.
If you’re struggling with guilt, anxiety or obsessive thoughts around food, seeking help from a weight-neutral healthcare professional or counsellor is an essential step towards healing. Just as Swift used her platform to encourage a healthier body image and self-acceptance, we too can learn to adopt a balanced, compassionate approach to our bodies and food because your worth is not measured by the number on the scale or the food on your plate.
