Tag Archive for: dieting

Canadian food programs and policies: the role of social media in promoting eating for body shape


Author: Alysha L. Deslippe, MSc, Doctoral Student, Human Nutrition, University of British Columbia | Editors: Negin Nia and Arrthy Thayaparan (Blog Coordinators) 

Published: January 14th, 2022

Editor’s Note: This story discusses diet culture, eating disorders, and harmful food habits. If you or someone you know is struggling, call 1-866-NEDIC-20 or visit NEDIC.

No programs or policies exist in Canada that address how social media may impact the relationship between eating and body shape. A review in 2016 found that social media plays a large role in our relationship with food, and often not a positive one. As eating habits track forward, Canada’s food guide suggests supporting teens’ development of healthy eating habits. Teen girls in particular may face unique pressures on eating through their social media use.

Body shape can influence teen girls’ food choices

Researchers like Dr.Vartanian suggest that we alter the type or amount of food we eat to manage other people’s expectations. This includes historically pressures on women and girls to be thin. To address this, Dr. Vartanian suggests lower-calorie foods (e.g., salad instead of a double hamburger) or less foods (e.g., small fries versus large fries) are consumed. Teen girls as young as 13-15 years of age have also  shown evidence of this. In an experiment where researchers watched what teens ate with a friend, girls ate less and chose healthier foods compared to boys. Another study in Canada found a link between eating less and body concerns using one-on-one interviews. Researchers individually interviewed a teen (13-14 years) and one of their parents. Forty-six percent of interviewed parents expressed concern that their daughters were decreasing how much they ate to control body shape. Parents in this sample did not express this concern for their sons. Instead, parents put pressure on their sons to eat more to gain size. As teen girls undergo physical changes in body fat distribution with puberty, they may be more vulnerable to historical pressure to be thin around this age. 

Social media can harm the relationship between food and body shape in teen girls 

When children enter their teens, their use of social media goes up. For example, in a study looking into app use, 96% (97/102) of 12–16 year-olds and 100% (63/63) of 17-18 year-olds used social media. Instagram and Snapchat platforms are often reported as the most used. In a study looking at social media use (including Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat and Tumblr) and eating in Australia, 68% of the 534 girls from grade 7 and 8 involved said they had an Instagram account. A further 59% reported having Snapchat. The girls self-reported what social media accounts they had and if they used any ‘disorder eating practices.’ Dietitians of Canada suggest that disordered eating practices can harm health and well-being. Some examples of these eating practices include binge eating, eating only in secret, skipping meals, restricting food intake or excessive exercise to make up for eating. 

In the study above, looking at links between social media use and eating, the Australian researchers found that girls’ use of social media platforms was related to harmful eating practices. For example, using Snapchat and ‘meal skipping’, ‘eating little food’, ‘following a strict meal plan’ or ‘strict exercise plan’. Using Instagram was linked to ‘skipping meals’ and having a ‘strict exercise plan’ as well. The other two social media platforms (Facebook and Tumblr) investigated were also related to girls’ reports of ‘following a strict exercise plan’. The researchers suggest that this implies that both images of very thin or very fit folks, common on social media regardless of platform, can have a  negative impact on teens eating. This matches work from other countries too. 

We need more research to guide food programs and policies targeting social media use in Canada

Clear guidelines for Canadian food programs and policy are needed to address how social media can shape relationships between body shape and eating in teen girls. Some researchers have called for programs or policies focusing on media literacy. This approach focuses on helping teens identify unrealistic body shape standards. This may be an effective approach, but we need more research in the Canadian context first. Little work has explored how social media use impacts Canadian teen girls’ eating choices. Instead, a 2016 review revealed that most work looking at social media and eating comes from the United States or Europe. We also need to understand how teen girls’ experiences with social media may differ from other gender groups. This includes boys, or teens who identify as transgender, gender fluid or bi-gendered. Programs and policy will need to account for these differences to ensure that all Canadian teens, regardless of gender, receive support to eat free from pressures of body shape. 

The Gut-Brain Connection: Why Biological Sex May Matter

Author: Avril Metcalfe-Roach, PhD student, University of British Columbia | Editors: Negin Nia and Arrthy Thayaparan (Blog Coordinators) 

Published: November 12th, 2021

If you had to build your own house from scratch, what supplies would you bring to the job? High-quality building materials would certainly make the house much more durable, and having a diverse array of tools on hand will make construction much easier. 

Joe, on the other hand, brought just four zip ties and a wrench and is probably in for a tough time. If you live in a hot climate, you might consider installing air conditioning; in cold climates, good insulation and a heater will help you avoid freezing during the winter. In any case, putting love and effort into the home helps ensure that it keeps you comfortable for many years.

Similarly, the food we eat directly impacts every facet of our health. The links between diet, obesity, and cardiovascular disease are well known. However, more research indicates that dietary habits also directly impact issues like cancer, mental health, and even neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. Healthy eating can also indirectly reduce disease burden by ensuring that your body has the tools it needs to heal and combat infection.

So, how do different foods actually exert these effects? 

Each food, of course, has a different nutritional profile and will provide your body with different tools. We can anticipate what tools we will need and provide them before problems arise. For example, people who menstruate require more iron in their diets, and oral contraceptive use can lower the absorption of multiple vitamins and minerals. 

Humans also have a little problem: we’re more complex than our genetics allow. While our bodies directly absorb and create many nutrients, a lot of essential nutrients are created solely by the 100 trillion bacteria living in our intestines. In exchange for some energy and a warm place to call home, these beneficial bacteria help to prevent other harmful bacteria from infecting the gut. This keeps our gut tissue working properly, and produces vitamins and other compounds that can leave the gut and promote health throughout the body. For example, certain types of fiber are broken down by bacteria into molecules that enter the bloodstream and help to reduce inflammation.

Even the ‘happy’ chemical, serotonin, is mostly produced in the gut. Like us, each type of bacteria has its own nutritional requirements that mostly revolve around fiber-rich foods such as fruits and whole grains. By eating a variety of nutrient-dense foods, we foster a gut environment full of healthy, anti-inflammatory bacteria that in turn keep us healthy. 

What type of diets are sustainable and have health benefits?

Dietary research is progressing at a staggering rate, and it can be overwhelming to stay up to date. When the research is clarified, however, certain dietary patterns emerge that are consistently linked with specific health outcomes. 

The Mediterranean diet, which promotes plant-based foods, fish, and healthy oils, while limiting red meat and other animal products, is perhaps the best-studied healthy diet in the world. It has been associated with lower rates of cardiovascular disease, obesity, glucose sensitivity and diabetes, and overall mortality.

More recently, a few studies have suggested that the Mediterranean diet may improve brain health. Neurodegenerative diseases are not yet well understood, and there are very few known factors that help to prevent them. Recognizing this, Dr. Martha Clare Morris unveiled the MIND diet in 2015, which optimizes the Mediterranean diet against cognitive decline.

What is the MIND diet and how does it benefit us?

Most food groups are conserved between the two diets; crucially, however, the MIND diet also promotes brain-healthy berries and leafy greens, while restricting pro-inflammatory sugary, fried, and processed food. These latter foods are becoming increasingly common, especially in North America; some research suggests that their overconsumption can even negate some of the health benefits normally associated with the Mediterranean diet. 

As a result, the MIND diet has since been associated with significantly reduced rates of many neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s, cognitive decline, and general motor decline; what’s more, the strength of these associations seems to exceed those of the Mediterranean diet.

We recently investigated the MIND diet in a group of individuals with Parkinson’s disease, where we assessed their normal dietary intake and assigned a score based on how closely their intake resembled the MIND diet. Female participants had higher scores on average, indicating closer MIND diet resemblance. Participants with high scores developed Parkinson’s disease significantly later than those with low scores; unexpectedly, this association was especially strong in the female participants, where dietary habits accounted for up to 17 years’ difference in disease onset. Interestingly, the MIND diet accounted for only 10 years in men, and the Mediterranean diet accounted for 10 years with no apparent sex differences.

How do these diets work exactly?

While the complexity of these diets means that it is difficult to know exactly how they work, a sizable amount of research has zeroed in on our microscopic friends as a key factor. Brain-healthy diets help anti-inflammatory bacteria to thrive, which may help to limit inflammation in the brain. Regulation of the immune system is known to be partially sex-specific – for example, women are more prone to autoimmune disease, where the immune system attacks healthy body tissue – and these differences might impact how effective the diets are against neurodegeneration. Indeed, women make up only 1/3 of all Parkinson’s disease cases. 

While our findings here are only correlational, they highlight the importance of including sex as a factor in further research. With a strong enough framework, everyone can design a house that will keep them happy and healthy for a lifetime.