She wrote…
Reductil, Australia’s most popular weight loss drug, is just one of a raft of weightloss drugs pitched as a quick fix for those desperate to conform to the thin ideal, despite harming themselves in the process.
Yet we are not in the midst of an obesity epidemic, as it is often claimed. We are in the midst of an epidemic of disordered eating. The solutions prescribed to combat obesity are often the same behaviours we as practitioners are diagnosing in those suffering from eating disorders.Many find that no matter what they do they can never sustain a thin physique because ‘thin’ is simply not their natural body size. Pressuring people to take prescription drugs, go on a liquid diet, and count every step in the pursuit of thinness, should alert us to the fact that Australians are now living in an eating disordered, fat phobic culture.
…Think about what happens after the ‘after’ photo. Current weight loss prescriptions carry a 98 per cent failure rate, meaning that you actually have more chance of surviving cancer than losing weight and keeping it off after 2-5 years. Encouraging people to prioritise thinness rather than emphasise a healthy lifestyle is damaging our health. Diets are nothing more than prescriptions for disordered eating.
To top it off, obesity ‘experts’ continue to use BMI charts despite knowing that they are not accurate measures of health. Fitness is a far better predictor of health than knowing the ratio of your height to your weight – and larger sized people can often be fitter than skinny ones.
[You can read Lydia’s full article here at The Drum] [image from Crikey]
I agree that while obesity, anorexia and bulimia are at the extreme ends of this debate, there are a whole bunch of people (particularly) women, who have disordered eating. I’m not even sure how exactly you define that. Is it about deprivation? Binging on a particular type of food? A fear of certain foods?
Currently, I’m trying to eat more organic food and less meat. For a whole bunch of reasons, none of them to do with my weight. Does that make my eating disordered? I know that this is the time of year when dieting peaks. Fresh start. New year’s resolutions. A blank page.
But does it work? Are diets ever sustainable if they’re based on deprivation? And what’s the alternative? Possibly, more emphasis on exercise. Personally, I’d rather go for a run than be hungry or have to skip dessert.
What do you think? Do diets work? I’ve never been on one because I know that any form of deprivation is not great for me and I begin to obsess on whatever it is I’m not allowed to have.
Are you happy with your weight? Do you consider yourself to eat normally?
Top Comments
I'm very late coming on board with this. Last year I was forced to go on a diet due to medical reasons. Not to lose weight - it's a low salt diet.
Do you know how hard it is to be on a low salt diet in today's world? Suddenly I had to give up the majority of pre-packaged foods, take aways and restaurant dinners. I have to prepare fresh foods from scratch now. And I have never felt healthier. I lost a bit of weight too. It's amazing how much unnecessary junk their is in most people's diets.
I remember hearing on 60 minutes once that a lot of salt in pre-packaged foods isn't necessary - the companies could get rid of the salt without consumers even noticing. Heck, even milk is high in salt these days!
it's all about portion control...something I've lost control of myself