As a pioneer of the Body Neutrality movement since 2015, leader of Body Joyful Revolution and author of the Body Joyful book, I congratulate and welcome Pinterest to the Body Joyful Revolution.
This is a BIG deal.
Pinterest has put its foot down and has BANNED WEIGHT LOSS LANGUAGE AND IMAGERY ADS from its profile.
This step is brave, because the diet industry is a 72 Billion dollar a year industry.
The Body Joyful Revolution…
Is a community and global movement that welcomes and teaches women of all shapes, sizes and weights to stop dieting, reject society’s thin ideal and heal from diet culture applauds this decision. So, welcome them with open arms.
The Body Joyful Revolution encourages women to embrace their weight, size and shape and feel more comfortable and confident in their bodies. They begin to eat intuitively and prioritize self-care thus are able to create healthy boundaries. Side effects of this way of thinking include: self-acceptance, more joy, and improved health. Most importantly though, they rediscover a new and improved relationship with both food and body.
Having experienced and recovered from an eating disorder, I know personally how negatively it impacts you, your family and society. I made it my mission to reduce body shamming, weight stigmatization, bullying and eating disorders and prevent life-threatening eating disorders.
My own recovery journey
…led me to become eating disorders specialist, intuitive eating counselor and body confidence coach. Needless to say, I was particularly thrilled to see Pinterest develop its new policy with guidance from the National Eating Disorder Association (NEDA). NEDA supports individuals and families affected by eating disorders, and serves as a catalyst for prevention, cures and access to quality care.
And with eating disorders, bullying and body shamming on the rise (even more so this past year through the pandemic) this step by Pinterest should help decrease this dangerous trend.
Pinterest’s head of policy stated:
“The change in policy was designed to prioritize users “emotional and mental health and wellbeing, especially those users who are directly impacted by eating disorders or diet culture or body shaming”.
Body-shamming statistics indicate that “94 percent of teenage girls have been body shamed.” This means MOST of our girls are being body shamed. When someone becomes a bullying target due to weight or looks, teasing develops into a negative body image. “Individuals who have low self-esteem, perfectionism or anxiety issues are often generically predestinated to developing an eating disorder.” Body shaming and bullying are also associated with poor health because they can lead to dire physical and mental health problems.
Mental health professionals state that this is an unacceptable form of bullying. This is especially pertinent now given the statistics:
- During the pandemic NEDA reported increases as high as 70% to 80% to its helpline. It is estimated that more than 30 million people in the U.S. suffer from an eating disorder.
- According to the National Eating Disorder Coalition “the rate of children under the age of 12 being admitted to a hospital for an eating disorder rose 119% in less than a decade. Various news outlets in Canada, United Kingdom and the USA have highlighted how eating disorder cases have risen in children and teens during the pandemic
- Common sense media wrote “80% of 10-year old girls have been on a diet and 50% of girls want thinner bodies.”
- Medical Daily reports woman spend an average of 17 years of their life dieting
Those are the statistics, but they don’t have to be the final word on this issue.
Pinterest has taken a bold step towards addressing these challenges by joining the Body Joyful Revolution.
We all play a role, and now it’s time to be part of the solution by:
- Encouraging all social media sites and corporations to adopt similar policies.
- Supporting organizations such as NEDA and the important work they do, whether that’s through donations, volunteering or spreading their message.
- Educating local institutions and leadership, as well as our friends, neighbors and family on how to talk and advocate on this topic.
- Reaching out to leaders like myself, to ask for help. These issues are bigger than anyone of us and the solutions lay in our collective effort.
Wont you join us in our mission and help be part of the solution? Click here to ask to join.
And help us as we empower our next generation to feel comfortable and confident in their bodies, regardless of size shape and weight, so they know their true value and worth and can impact this world by sharing their own unique gifts and talents.
Yahoo.