Diet Culture- Project 3

My research for Project 3 is about the negative physical and mental effects of diet culture, particularly in young women. Nowadays, there are unrealistic expectations set by society on how someone should look. Because of this, people decide to start dieting or restricting themselves of the nutrients they need. This constant need to eat healthy becomes an obsession, which in turn leads to poor mental image and even eating disorders. The research process in this topic has been very interesting and eye opening. At first, it was difficult to find scholarly articles that focused on diet culture as a whole, instead of just one specific diet. In the end, I found some amazing articles that outline how diets lead to both body dissatisfaction and well as physical deficiencies. In the course of my research, it was very interesting to read popular sources like blogs and magazine entries about the toxicity of diet culture. It was eye opening to see how many young women (and men) struggle with body image and what role social media/popular diets have played in how they view themselves. Diets are targeted at such a young audience nowadays, addressing how toxic the culture is. It is important for people to understand that there is no one body type to strive for. You don’t need to start some crazy diet or restrict yourself of important nutrients to please others. Every body is beautiful and it is crucial to not compare yourself to what you see in the media.