There are plenty of weighty topics we should discuss. This isn’t one of them

Many people aspire to be thin and talk about their and other people’s weight as if it is a social currency to happiness and success.

In 2022, the number of West Australians who sought help for eating disorders increased by more than 80 per cent, and over 400 West Australians were admitted to emergency rooms due to eating disorders or body image challenges.

Our society puts too much emphasis on people’s weight – often to the detriment of those who struggle the most.

So, unless you are an allied health care professional, or you’re seeing a professional in a health care setting, please consider not talking about your weight with other people.

And – this may be an even bigger ask – please consider not posting about your weight or weight loss on social media.

While you may want your followers’ help to be accountable for your weight loss, or to share your positive or negative feelings about your weight, your posts could also harm some readers.

The WA government has announced it will create an eating disorders framework to try and prevent eating disorders, address early intervention and offer treatment and support services across the state.

It also created two new eating disorder specialist services across the North and South Metropolitan Health Service areas for those 16 years and older.

For more than a decade, I have been fortunate to research, write and advocate in the area of body image law, and I am pleased about the positive changes I’ve seen.

For example, there are more images of models who have diverse body sizes – some models appear to be of a healthy weight while many fashion designers now offer more clothes in a greater range of sizes.

Sadly, in 2024, there is still a general societal view that being underweight and toned, or slightly curvy and toned, is the female body ideal and lean and muscular is the male body ideal.

These views can harm the body image and general self-esteem of many who aspire to this model.

Countless people, no matter how hard they try, lose weight only to put it back on again, as they try to achieve the body ideal. Many suffer psychological damage during the process.

Ethically, one of many reasons why current body ideals are unfair, is we live in an obesogenic society and unhealthy food and its marketing are everywhere. People often strive for the body ideal because weight stigma and diet culture are ingrained and systemic.

Three governments overseas – Israel, France and Norway – passed body-image laws to try to improve their constituents’ body image.

A key aspect of these laws is if a model’s image has been modified to make the model appear thinner, it must have a disclaimer that states it was altered.

I’m not suggesting we stop encouraging people to eat healthily or to exercise, but I do think that we need to be cognisant of the potential negative repercussions of discussing our weight.

A significant volume of compelling health research has found these disclaimers do not work.

They often make the person who sees the image pay extra attention and compare themselves to the model more than they might have otherwise.

Importantly, if we are committed to improving society, law can be an important and useful tool, but it is simply one of a few critical tools, such as education and societal change.

Some people think we must discuss weight to help address the fact that more than 70 per cent of West Australian adults and about a quarter of children are of a larger size.

There are many ways to address this issue, for example, the federal government can follow the UK’s lead and adopt a sugary sweetened beverages tax.

It can also pass the Healthy Kids Advertising Bill, which NSW MP Dr Sophie Scamps and her team created and championed.

If legislated, this would likely result in Australian children seeing significantly less processed food advertising.

At the absolute minimum, if you don’t want to censor your comments about your weight generally, can I urge you to please consider doing so in front of children?

Children, particularly younger children are like sponges and can easily adopt your attitude towards weight and weight gain. Parents talking about weight to their children as little as three times a month is associated with their children applying negative biases about their weight when they become adults.

A parent’s comments about their child’s weight are related to body dissatisfaction for some of these children upon becoming adults.

Organisations such as The Butterfly Foundation provide insights into available research, as well as tips and resources to help parents navigate this tricky area.

I’m not suggesting we stop encouraging people to eat healthily or to exercise, but I do think that we need to be cognisant of the potential negative repercussions of discussing our weight.

Even comments about weight that might appear to be positive, like, “you’re lucky you’re thin”, and, “you could gain some weight” can be damaging.

I hope if we spend less time discussing weight, then the importance of weight and achieving the perfect body might also decrease, leaving additional time for more important things in life and hopefully better psychological health.

I can’t help but think of one my favourite comments by Taryn Brumfitt, 2023 Australian of the Year, co-founder of The Embrace Collective and an internationally respected body image advocate: “We’re not born hating our bodies. It’s something the world teaches us.”

For support with eating disorders or body image concerns, contact the Butterfly Foundation National Helpline on 1800 ED HOPE (1800 33 4673), chat online or email [email protected].

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