Cyclospora continues to spread, and so do the weight-loss wishes
I had more to stay about the sh*tty poop jokes
When I wrote about the diarrhea jokes a few weeks ago, I was hopeful the outbreak—and the accompanying internet chatter about rapid weight loss—would soon be old news.
Alas.
As concerning as it was to see people continue to get sick (and joke about getting sick), it gave me a chance to think and write more about this phenomenon when I accepted an assignment for CNN.
While reporting the piece, I got the chance to interview two eating disorder treatment professionals—Whitney Trotter and Zoë Bisbing—who shared really smart commentary on what this trend reveals about our relationship to weight and health.
You can read the whole article here, and I’ll highlight a few quotations below:
“For individuals living with or recovering from an eating disorder, this type of messaging can be incredibly triggering. It normalizes illness-induced weight loss and perpetuates the belief that suffering is an acceptable or even desirable path to changing one’s body.”
— Dr. Whitney Trotter
“Maybe on some level there is a self-awareness that, you know, we say it’s all about health, but come on, let’s be honest. It’s not. This is obviously not the pursuit of health.”
— Zoë Bisbing
While doing research for this story, I had to spend time on a disturbing corner of social media, not unlike my experience reporting on #SkinnyTok. Seeing such obviously pro-eating disorder content reminded me of an acquaintance who once said, “I wish I had a little bit of anorexia.”
This was years before I saw up close how devastating that illness can be, but even then, part of me recoiled. Wishing, even in jest, for a potentially fatal illness speaks to how powerful fat phobia is.
For all the ways we’ve been trained to frame weight loss in terms of health and wellness, the underlying truth is that many people would give up wellbeing and longevity for thinness.
Diet culture doesn’t really care about our health. And instead it often actively promotes sickness. Meanwhile, people simply existing in larger bodies are accused of “promoting dangerous lifestyles” or being told they’re on death’s door.
Whenever I see someone post those kinds of anti-fat comments online, I always want to send them this Marilyn Wann quotation:
When it comes to parenting amidst confusing messages about weight and health, I’ve got some conversation starters you might use in your own family:
Conversation starters with kids:
“I heard people are making jokes about wanting to get diarrhea from contaminated produce—what do you think about that?”
“What does being ‘healthy’ mean to you?”
“How do you decide whom to trust for health information?”
