The Impact of Labeling Your Child’s Food Choices as Good or Bad

To understand the negative impacts of labeling food and lifestyle choices it is important to first understand what diet culture is and how it impacts our society. Kate Willsky at Equip Health defines diet culture as “a system of social beliefs and expectations that values thinness above all.” Diet culture equates thinness to health and views larger bodies, and those in larger bodies who are not on the pursuit to become thin, as shameful. Diet culture connects body size and food choices to morality. Those who are thin are put on a pedestal and those who don’t fit within these standards are put down.  

Children learn by example. They are taught from a young age to make the right choice, do the right thing, and be a good person. What happens when we apply these concepts to food? Children often hear their parents commenting “I’m being so bad” or “I have to be good” surrounding food and lifestyle choices. Diet culture destroys our ability to eat intuitively. It is the cause of associating food with feelings of guilt, shame, and fear. When children observe their parents feeling conflicted about what food choice to make, expressing feelings of guilt and shame about eating, and criticizing their bodies- they absorb a harmful way to approach food. Instead of assessing whether food will be nourishing and satisfying, they will begin to wonder “should I or shouldn’t I?”, “good or bad?”.

Taking a step toward unraveling the impact of diet culture means making choices based on intuition, nutrition, and emotion. Having an emotional connection to food is unavoidable. Food is associated with connection, tradition, and culture. We do have the ability to enjoy and experience food, and we should! Kids have the ability to follow their intuition and associate positive feelings with food before they are influenced by diet culture. Rather than instilling fear of becoming fat in children, we need to embrace their intuition and connection to their bodies.

One way that parents can do this is by trusting their kid’s choices. Resist urges to say “that is too much” or “that is unhealthy” when your child asks for seconds or dessert. Labeling foods as good vs. bad or healthy vs. unhealthy is another form of diet culture. Focus on being nonjudgmental when talking about nutrition. Teach them to honor their body’s cues and allow themselves to eat different foods. Not allowing this causes a deeper fixation on food and a later distrust with their body. It is also important to celebrate eating different foods. Rather than beat yourself up after eating dessert at a party, make a comment about how fun and enjoyable it was to try something new! Avoid making comments about burning off calories after eating and when exercising. Talk about how enjoyable or fun the movement was and how good it made you feel to release energy.

Diet culture impacts the way that we think about and approach food, exercise, and body image in such subtle ways. Parents can help their kids be less impacted by diet culture simply by taking a step back to recognize how it impacts them. As a parent, notice when you are having an emotional reaction to your child’s food choices and choose to proceed mindfully as you respond to them. Acknowledge that you cannot protect them from diet culture completely but you can make them aware of the harms of it and help them to embrace their intuition.

Sources:

https://equip.health/articles/diet-culture-and-society/what-is-diet-culture