2008 Woodie Awards
Healthy Eating Revisited: Part I of an article series
Sponsored by the Eating Disorder Task Force
Beau Greer
Issue date: 2/28/08 Section: News
When tabloids assaulted Jennifer Love Hewitt for not maintaining her Hanes underwear-modeling figure, she responded with the enlightening message, "Like all women out there should, I love my body." Unfortunately incapable of dropping the issue at that she continued, "A size two is not fat," which incited further criticism as most believe she no longer fits that description.
Tyra Banks had a similar contradictory message response when the tabloid press revealed that, God forbid, she had gained weight since her days as a model. Gaining weight has such negative connotations in our society that even when celebrities respond to unwarranted criticism with positive lip service, they can't help but deny they've even gained much weight.
As a nutrition professor, I'm often challenged by promoting personal responsibility and healthy bodyweights while simultaneously trying not to perpetuate a negative self-image for an overweight individual.
Which is less healthy anyway? Individuals who eat fast food everyday with total disregard for what goes into their bodies or those who vehemently deny fast food under the guise of being healthy, but in reality out of fear of getting fat? Unfortunately those two paradigms encompass a wide scope of college students today.
Health guru John Robbins, who denied his inheritance as heir to the Baskin-Robbins empire, may have been right when he said, "The person who eats beer and franks with cheer and thanks will probably be healthier than the people who sprouts and bread with doubts and dread."
But why can we not reach a happy medium in this society when the majority of people focus on fresh, healthy (not to mention delicious), "whole" foods, and occasionally indulge in less nutritious options without feeling guilty about it? Why can't we be happy with our bodies and concurrently strive to achieve a healthier body weight?
To shift the current paradigm, we must first understand what a healthy weight range is, as models and actresses do not encompass but a sliver of it (or often, none of it). That is fairly simple.
Tyra Banks had a similar contradictory message response when the tabloid press revealed that, God forbid, she had gained weight since her days as a model. Gaining weight has such negative connotations in our society that even when celebrities respond to unwarranted criticism with positive lip service, they can't help but deny they've even gained much weight.
As a nutrition professor, I'm often challenged by promoting personal responsibility and healthy bodyweights while simultaneously trying not to perpetuate a negative self-image for an overweight individual.
Which is less healthy anyway? Individuals who eat fast food everyday with total disregard for what goes into their bodies or those who vehemently deny fast food under the guise of being healthy, but in reality out of fear of getting fat? Unfortunately those two paradigms encompass a wide scope of college students today.
Health guru John Robbins, who denied his inheritance as heir to the Baskin-Robbins empire, may have been right when he said, "The person who eats beer and franks with cheer and thanks will probably be healthier than the people who sprouts and bread with doubts and dread."
But why can we not reach a happy medium in this society when the majority of people focus on fresh, healthy (not to mention delicious), "whole" foods, and occasionally indulge in less nutritious options without feeling guilty about it? Why can't we be happy with our bodies and concurrently strive to achieve a healthier body weight?
To shift the current paradigm, we must first understand what a healthy weight range is, as models and actresses do not encompass but a sliver of it (or often, none of it). That is fairly simple.
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