When I was younger, the thought of studying nutrition seemed boring. Little did I know that I’d find an interest in the topic later in life. Part of that may be because I was perpetually thin and lean back in my youth and these days…well, let’s just say I’m a well-rounded individual.
As someone who is on the plus-sized end of the bell curve, though I’m working to fix that, one thing I have an issue with is the “healthy at any size” movement.
Especially since so many of the proponents of this nonsense also claim those of us skeptical about climate change claims to any degree are “anti-science.”
Now, there is tons of evidence telling us that obesity is bad for us. These twits claim that there isn’t, all because there are no experimental studies on humans. That’s because of something called scientific ethics—you can’t conduct an experiment where you know you’re likely to inflict harm on the subject—but that gets left out.
What’s the real kicker? It’s who is paying a lot of these folks to push their anti-science agenda. (Note: This is not a new article, having come out more than a month ago, but I just came across and I think this is important.)
General Mills has toured the country touting anti-diet research it claims proves the harms of “food shaming.” It has showered giveaways on registered dietitians who promote its cereals online with the hashtag #DerailTheShame, and sponsored influencers who promote its sugary snacks. The company has also enlisted a team of lobbyists and pushed back against federal policies that would add health information to food labels.
General Mills complies with federal regulations and “works closely with a variety of scientific, health, nutrition and other credentialed experts to ensure we provide accurate, evidence-based information,” said spokesperson Andrea Williamson.
Online dietitians — many of them backed by food makers — also are building lucrative followings by co-opting anti-diet messages. Anti-diet hashtags, such as #NoBadFoods, #FoodFreedom and #DitchTheDiet, have proliferated on social media.
The Examination and The Washington Post analyzed more than 6,000 social media posts by 68 registered dietitians with at least 10,000 followers. The analysis showed that roughly 40 percent of these influencers, with a combined reach of over 9 million followers, repeatedly used anti-diet language.
The majority of the influencers who used anti-diet language also were paid to promote products from food, beverage and supplement companies, the analysis found.
The rapid spread of anti-diet messaging – and the alliance between some of the country’s registered dietitians and the food industry – has alarmed some in the public health community.
Ya think?
Now, I’m a free market guy. I don’t care how General Mills spends its money. I don’t care if “influencers” take that money to push an agenda.
What I care about are registered dieticians—people who are trained to know better—pushing bullshit they know good and well will result in people dying, all because they’re getting a paycheck.
Look, I’m a believer that there is no bad food. Anything we can buy to eat can be eaten safely…in moderation. Some foods, however, just can’t be eaten on a daily basis and be conducive to a healthy life. They’re just too calorie dense and nutritionally deficient for that to happen.
But General Mills is doing a full-court press on this.
Amy Cohn, General Mills’ senior manager for nutrition and external affairs, promoted the cereal company’s anti-diet messaging to a room of registered dietitians at a national food conference last fall. Cohn denounced the media for “pointing the finger at processed foods” and making consumers feel ashamed of their choices.
"You can help derail the cycle of shame,” Cohn told the dietitians.
During the session, Kathryn Lawson, a registered dietitian and director of regulatory and scientific affairs at the food giant Nestlé, tweeted: “People need to feel heard and seen to help break the cycle of shame when it comes to losing weight and eating.”
At least 10 registered dietitians promoted General Mills’ cereals in TikTok and Instagram posts last year, using the slogan #DerailTheShame while tagging the company in their posts. In some posts, dietitians show off personalized Cheerios boxes adorned with their names while they denounce “food shaming” of ready-to-eat cereals.
In a separate TikTok video published in November 2023, the self-described “anti-diet” dietitian Cara Harbstreet promoted the company’s “Big G” cereals, which include sugary brands such as Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Cocoa Puffs and Trix.
“I will always advocate for fearlessly nourishing meals, including cereal,” the Kansas City, Mo. dietitian told her followers in the video, which was labeled “#sponsored” and disclosed that she was working with General Mills. “Because everyone deserves to enjoy food without judgment, especially kids.”
They are killing people.
Maybe they actually believe the BS they’re spewing, but these are dieticians who should know better. They’ve got access to the research. They’re supposed to be educated enough to be able to read the studies and understand why we don’t experiment on humans like that.
I can’t help but figure they started off spouting something for clout, then started getting money for it, and now are just doubling down.
The funny thing is that in most cases, a company like Nestlé or General Mills pushing anti-diet narratives would raise big red flags for most. I mean, they’re not exactly unbiased observers here. They rightfully take issue with the tobacco companies having pushed a narrative that cigarettes weren’t harmful when they knew the were, so why are they swallowing this so completely?
Why are these typically the same people who talk about pro-gun lawmakers being bought and paid for by the NRA, yet are completely unskeptical about fat acceptance influencers paid for by Cocoa Puffs?
Because they don’t want to be skeptical.
Obesity is not something people find attractive these days, for the most part. Regardless of the reason, people who are obese are thought of as the best friend, not the love interest. They’re the comedy relief, not the main character. People internalize this about themselves.
So, they try losing weight and it’s hard. When you’ve got a lot to lose, it takes a long time to lose it. Along the way, there are plateaus and roadblocks that seem to stall your progress. It’s agonizing and it’s never really over. You can lose a ton, but you always have to be vigilant.
I lost more than 70 pounds and put it all back on because of the shortages during COVID causing me to break my habits.
It’s hard, but then you have people tell you that you don’t need to change, society does.
One has to imagine that it would feel freeing; like a massive burden has been lifted from you. At that point, do you care if it’s being funded by the people who stand to benefit the most from our obesity?
Probably not.
But these companies know what they’re doing and while I’m a free market guy, I also think people have an obligation not to try and help kill their customers. These companies are blowing it.
And these dieticians? They’re blowing it too.
Remember, follow the science right up until you get something for ignoring it.
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Have to say I spoke to dietitians at a hospital where I was recently diagnosed with diabetes. It took a few weeks for me to discover that the advice was wrong in major ways, designed to make me use more insulin and gain weight (I was far left of obese at the time). I’m sure the pharmaceutical salesmen were well rewarded for their misinformation.