Join Us Tomorrow to Celebrate and Support International #NoDietDay

It’s not our bodies that need changing. It’s our attitudes.

Here at the National Eating Disorder Information Centre, we are not only mandated to share information about eating disorders.. It is also our responsibility to provide information and resources about body image and food and weight preoccupation. That’s why days like tomorrow are so important to us.

May 6th is International No Diet Day. It is a day for organizations and individuals to push back against the industries and messages that encourage us to engage in dangerous dieting behaviours.

According to a 2002 survey, 28% of girls in grade 9 and 29% in grade 10 engaged in weight-loss behaviours. In addition, 30% of girls and 24% of boys in grades 7-12 reported teasing about their weight. From a young age we are faced with harmful messages that influence the way that we feel about our own and others’ bodies, and these messages only intensify as we become adults.

International No Diet Day is an annual celebration of body acceptance, fat acceptance, and body diversity!

To celebrate International No Diet Day, NEDIC will be hosting a twitter chat on Friday, May 6th at 3PM EST. The focus of the chat will be to challenge the myths and address the dangers of dieting!
Join us in this conversation by using the hashtag #NoDietDay.

References
Boyce, W. F. (2004). Young people in Canada: their health and well-being. Ottawa, Ontario: Health Canada.

Eisenberg, M. E. & Neumark-Sztainer, D. (2003). Associations of Weight-Based Teasing and Emotional Well-Being Among Adolescents. Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, 157(6), 733-738.