Do Fad Diets Cause Eating Disorders?
By Abigail Natenshon, MA, LCSW, GCFP Typically considered to be acceptable behaviors because they have become such common behaviors, fad dieting and food restriction in various forms have become the norm in our society today. Restricting certain food groups, skipping meals and even vegetarianism in certain situations has come to be known as “healthy eating.” “I am not hungry, I already ate with my friends, I’m late nowI’ll grab a bite after work” in some instances become excuses to cover-up pathological concerns with weight, appearance and/or body image. In some instances they may become signs of incipient eating disorders; dieting can be a primary trigger to the onset of a clinical eating disorder where an individual may have a genetic propensity to develop anorexia or bulimia. Dieting individuals who develop eating disorders, in describing triggers to their disease, confide that after starting an innocent diet, they just kept on eating ‘healthier and healthier’ till suddenly they fou
