Because of how scared and angry I am, I will have probably missed something in this post so please bear with me. Right now, I amongst many other individuals are incredibly distressed. The government has launched a new obesity strategy, (the ‘Better Health’ campaign) which aims to ‘empower adults and children to live healthier lives’. This follows the declaration to ‘wage war on the obesity crisis’.
Part of this plan is that it will be compulsory for restaurants, cafe’s and takeaways to include calorie counts on menus. This includes both meals and drinks with similar labels also being placed on items sold in shops. The aim of this is for the public to make more informed choices about their decisions surrounding food, but what the government are failing to consider is just how dangerous this will be. Putting an emphasis on lowering calorie consumption creates an environment of guilt, fear and hostility for those struggling. Evidence shows that calorie labelling exacerbates eating disorders of all kinds (Beat, 2018). It’s important to note that it isn’t simply those (an estimated 1.25 million people in the UK) who suffer with a diagnosed eating disorder that this will affect, but those who are vulnerable to developing disordered eating, as well as other groups, including those vulnerable to weight-based stigma.
Weight is not an isolated indicator of a persons HEALTH. We know that Covid-19 does not discriminate, this includes discrimination by body weight. By implementing this campaign, the government are encouraging harmful stereotypes and creating feelings of shame and a breeding ground for negative body image. There is already an enormous amount of weight discrimination and stigma in our society, leading to poor body image and low self-esteem. This is horribly concerning for people of all ages, especially in schools where research shows that weight stigma can hinder children’s social, emotional and academic development. Weight-based stigmatisation can lead to bullying, anxiety disorders, depression, eating disorders, suicidal thoughts, disengagement, withdrawal…the list goes on. Weight-based stigma poses significant threat to psychological and physical health (NEDA) and since the rise of obesity prevention campaigns, weight stigma has increased by 66%. The bottom line is that an overemphasis on weight (calorie labelling) has counterproductive effects (NEDA).
I can’t explain how terrified the eating disorder community is at the moment. I haven’t stopped thinking about this since it was announced and it’s genuinely been giving me sleepless night and lots of tears and panic surrounding food again after many years being recovered from anorexia nervosa. The idea that calories will be so forcefully displayed makes me feel physically sick. Calories, being terrified to eat (let alone eat out), controlled my life for years to the point of being severely malnourished. I still deal with psychological and medical consequences of this every day. I’m genuinely not sure how I will be able to cope if making choices about food means I have to tackle further, impossible hurdles at every meal.
Whilst, undeniably, there are people in the UK for which weight loss would benefit, surely healthy balance promotion rather than the demonisation of calories and body shaming would be a better way to tackle this. Restricting food groups leads to a greater desire for them, plus, research (and common sense) shows that whilst eating out, the average person consumes more calories than they would usually anyway. That is OK! Your body is YOURS and you have complete autonomy over it, no matter what anyone else says.
This announcement has sent ripples through the eating disorder community. Anorexia alone has the highest mortality rate of any psychiatric illness. Please, UK government, don’t turn restaurants into a place of fear. Eating out is challenging enough without the added stress that this strategy will bring. The focus on weight terrifies me for our upcoming generations, for those already stigmatised because of their weight, for those vulnerable to disordered eating and developing eating disorders; and those in recovery fighting every day not to let these horrendous illnesses take hold of their lives again. The only war we should be waging is the one against body shaming.
What you can do:
Use BEAT’s template letter to write to the government:
Sign the petition by Hope Virgo to stop calories from being displayed on menus:
Know that regardless of the food choices you make, it doesn’t change your worth as a person. Your body as well as decisions around it is yours and only yours.
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