What Is Food Shaming & How to Stop It

What Is Food Shaming?

Food shaming is negative commentary that is directed toward a person’s eating or nutrition. It often involves body shaming, diet shaming, or shaming foods of a different culture. In the moment, food shaming causes embarrassment and anxiety after eating. Long term, it can damage self-esteem and harm a person’s relationship with food.

Examples of food shaming comments include:

• “Wow! You could feed an entire family with that plate!”
• “You don’t really need all of that dessert, it’s going to cause you to pack on pounds.”
• “Is that all you’re eating? You’re skinny enough as it is.”
• “Are you sure you want to eat that? It’s so unhealthy.”
• “I can’t believe you’re eating that piece of cake when you said you wanted to pull back on sweets.”
• “You’re eating again? Didn’t you just have breakfast an hour ago?”
• “I would never eat that. It has too much sugar.”
• “You have a special occasion coming up are you sure you want to eat that?”
• “Why are you ordering a salad? Are you on a diet?

Why Do People Judge The Diets of Others?

People may judge the diet of others for a variety of reasons. Social media is rampant with misinformation regarding diets and nutrition. It also creates extreme beauty standards, which can lead to food shaming by encouraging others to eat a particular way to meet beauty standards. At its worst, social media can cause an individual to develop an eating disorder.

A person’s upbringing and family traditions can also instill specific dietary beliefs and body image ideals. These deeply ingrained personal values, when combined with societal pressures, can create an overwhelming need to conform to others’ expectations, further intensifying food shaming behaviors.¹

Common Forms of Food Shaming

Food shaming may take place in many forms. Body shaming critiques one’s appearance based on dietary choices. Dietary restrictions shaming focuses on individuals with specific dietary needs. Guilt-tripping manipulates people through shame to influence their food decisions. Cultural food shaming occurs when mocking the food choices of a particular culture. Understanding these variations is vital to addressing food shaming and promoting a healthier food relationship.

Common forms of food shaming include:

Commenting on Others’ Diets

Making unsolicited comments on a person’s food choices is a primary form of food shaming. Comments on another person’s diet ignore the fact that each person has different dietary needs. It is important to remember that each person is different, and the needs of one might not be the same as another. To engage in remarks that are unsolicited is disrespectful of differences and can cause a person to self-criticize and become withdrawn.

Associating Food With Morality

Labeling food as “good” or “bad” and making distinctions between healthy and unhealthy choices can significantly influence one’s food relationship. When individuals adhere to this approach, they tend to feel a sense of achievement when making “right” food choices and, conversely, experience self-criticism when consuming what they perceive as “wrong.” These emotional attachments often lead to anxiety, guilt, and a damaging cycle of food shaming.

Body Image & Weight Comments

Body image and comments about a person’s weight can cause food shaming. The association between body image and food intake can lead to feelings of guilt, shame, and inadequacy. These comments can further lean into unrealistic beauty standards and will reinforce unhealthy ideas about the diet a person should have and place emphasis on unrealistic nutrition.

The Impacts of Food Shaming

Food shaming of any form can be damaging and have long-lasting impacts.² A person might begin to experience feelings of shame, guilt, and fear related to eating.³ Subsequently, they may struggle to provide themselves with adequate nutrition and experience low self-esteem, anxiety, or depression. It can also cause a person to develop disordered eating habits or an eating disorder.

7 Ways to Stop Food Shaming

It is important to stop food shaming so that there are no detrimental impacts on a person’s life. It is necessary to promote a healthy relationship with food to have a space of empathy and understanding in a judge-free environment.

Here are seven tips for dealing with food shaming:

1. Don’t Be Afraid to Speak Up

Speaking up about your food choices is the first tip for stopping it from happening. Let others know your boundaries around food and how breaking those boundaries by food shaming can have a negative impact on you. Taking a proactive approach allows others to know where you stand with comments and deters them from happening in the future.

2. Change the Subject

Redirecting the conversation away from the food to something else can help to feel less of the impact of negative comments about food and your choices. This will shift the focus and also give an opportunity to have more positive conversations. Changing the subject reduces the chance of further food shaming in the future.

3. Foster Empathy

It is important to educate others on how you want to be treated, and fostering an empathetic environment allows others to see there is no space for negativity or food shaming. Using active listening can create a more accepting environment and provide positivity towards food choices.

4. Avoid Negative Comments

It is important to avoid negative comments in order to prevent food shaming. When judgmental or critical remarks are made about the food choices others make, it leaves open opportunities for negative conversations about a person. Staying clear of negative comments allows a positive culture and acceptance of others. Inclusive and respectful environments help a person to feel more accepted and less self-conscious about their food choices.

5. Avoid Making Assumptions

When assumptions are made about a person’s food choices, shaming can begin, and it can lead to a misconception about the person overall. Being open and engaged shows respect and also helps to understand a person overall. Learning about a person’s dietary choices might also open up to understanding other parts of them and their daily life.

6. Encourage Open Dialogue

Open dialogue is a crucial part of stopping food shaming. This safe and non-judgmental space allows individuals to feel comfortable about their food choices, including any dietary needs that they might have. These open conversations help people share their perspectives and feel more understood without the fear of criticism from others. This is an opportunity for education to debunk assumptions.

7. Be Mindful of Your Behavior

Reflecting on your own words and actions when it comes to food choices and choices about others’ food will help to eliminate food shaming. Avoiding unsolicited remarks is important to avoid fostering a negative relationship with food. Being mindful of your behavior can help create an inclusive environment and empathetic atmosphere for others to feel less shame.

When to Seek Professional Help for Food-Related Guilt

Seeking professional support for food-related guilt is important to heal a person’s relationship with food. If these struggles are impacting daily life, such as activities of daily living, relationships, and mental health, it is crucial to seek support.

An online therapist directory is a helpful tool for finding a therapist who specializes in disordered eating, which ensures they will have expertise on the impacts of food shaming. Alternatively, an online therapy platform is a great option for individuals who prefer doing therapy from the comfort of their homes. Take time to find the right therapist to work through your patterns and find the core of the impact at hand.⁴

In My Experience

In my experience, it is important to consider the source of the relationship with food shaming and notice the patterns of behavior when discussing food. Taking the time to gain support related to food is crucial for overall health and well-being. A client who is experiencing this issue should speak with a professional so that they learn the tools that will help them feel supported and know how to set boundaries moving forward. It is possible to move forward when feeling food shame, but it is important to find the support to do so.