60 second summary:
- It’s common for girls to have food rules and beliefs, often spread on social media
- These can lead them to consume a restricted diet
- This can be low in calories or lacking in certain nutrients
- Encourage a healthier relationship with food via relaxed and flexible eating
- Foster eating without judgement, in tune with appetite and needs
- Avoid labelling food as good or bad
- Challenge food rules gently
Social media is full of images and information that do not promote a healthy relationship with food or body. Both boys and girls are under huge pressure to look and behave a certain way and will often feel compelled to follow online trends, spread by individuals who appear perfect, even when the messages they share are unrealistic and unhealthy. Girls in particular are lured by the message that looking slim and restricting their food intake to achieve this is aspirational, and this can be incredibly destructive to their relationship with their body and with food.
Girls are taught to restrict their food from an early age
The TikTok food trend “girl dinner” is a case in point. Often consisting of a few snack foods on a plate (though healthier, more balanced versions are available online, too), they are designed as quick, convenient meals for one but are often low in calories and nutritionally imbalanced. Trends may come and go, but they tend to have one thing in common: restricting food intake is portrayed as aspirational for teenage girls, and this belief gets carried into adulthood.
Unhealthy food beliefs and rules
What and why we eat are not driven solely by physiological needs. We might eat because we are bored, sad, stressed, or in need of comfort. But our decisions about whether to honour our hunger with nourishing, balanced food are also influenced by beliefs about food and body image, as well as by how our peers behave.
Girls (and boys) often copy one another’s eating behaviour, which, in turn, may be inspired by a social media influencer. It’s not unusual in schools to see a friendship group all choosing plain pasta for lunch, for example. Common food beliefs tend to be all-or-nothing. You should avoid carbs, go vegan, avoid sugar, fruit, dairy, and grains, or eat only animal foods.
It begs the question: when did it become aspirational for a girl to deny herself adequate nourishment, whether that is balanced nutrition or tasty food?
Below are some tips for challenging unhealthy beliefs and food rules, specifically for young women.
Encourage relaxed eating
- Challenge diet culture by encouraging girls to eat in tune with their hunger and fullness, recognising their appetite as their bodies grow and develop, without judgement.
- Encourage eating through a lens of self-acceptance and self-care.
- Try to challenge the judgement that comes with eating more, less or differently. It is normal for appetite to vary depending on activity levels, growth, stress or illness, for example.
- Convey that it is alright to eat differently in tune with routine, mood or physical need.
- Above all, encourage a more relaxed, non-judgemental approach to both eating and body image.
How to think about food more flexibly
We all have beliefs about food and our bodies, but it’s important to be mindful of how we talk about food and our bodies in front of young women and girls.
- Avoid labelling foods as good, bad, junk, healthy or anything that creates a hierarchy of foods and, thereby, judgement
- Challenge food rules and beliefs if you hear them being discussed. Go gently and ask questions to understand why these beliefs exist
- Encourage girls to trust their body and honour hunger when it arises
- Foster flexible thinking about eating
- It’s normal to sometimes eat more than others
- Occasionally eating differently won’t affect long-term health
- If a preferred food choice is not available, it’s OK to choose an alternative
- Accept opportunities to eat spontaneously and see them as a positive experience
How to explain what balanced eating really means
It’s not just about eating a range of food groups (carbohydrate, protein, vegetables, fruits and dairy) in a balanced plate. It’s not just about consuming enough calories to grow and develop at a critical life stage. Balanced eating is also flexible eating. It’s not eating whatever you want, when you want. It’s eating foods you enjoy, foods that fuel you, foods that nourish and foods that are varied. It’s not a cycle of restriction and bingeing, and it’s not rules and regulations.
Eating mindfully and slowly, away from distractions, can help to ease judgement and manage appetite. It can also help to improve the relationship with food in the long term.
The bottom line is that eating should not come with a side order of judgement. Eating should be fun and should fuel growth, activity and joy in equal measure.
Claire Baseley – Consultant Nutritionist
