GLP-1s, Eating Disorders, and the Return of the Ultra-Thin Ideal

Written by :Rebecca Kinshella, LPC, PMH-C, eating disorder specialist at Dr. Vaccaro Counseling Group in Rockwall Texas. 

I am a 90s baby. As such, I grew up in the 90s/00s “heroin chic” era and survived the onslaught of body shaming, fad diets, and fatphobia that permeated the air for those years.

It was not uncommon for pre-pubescent children to be in Weight Watchers with their mothers, and in my teen years, you could not go a day without hearing someone discuss their recent diet or weight-loss attempt. This experience left a lasting mark on me and many of the peers of my generation.

Thankfully, as we grew older, a lot of us became entirely fed up with the revolving hamster wheel of diets and unattainable body standards that were being ever more thrust upon us. As we passed into the 2010s, we collectively pushed back against the diet industry, and a strong movement toward a more accepting, diverse, inclusive, and actuallyhealth-promoting future was gaining ground.

This era still had plenty of issues, including sneaky body shaming disguised as “fitspiration” or questionable health and diet recommendations in the name of “wellness.”

But culturally, we were beginning to make room for the idea that bodies come in a variety of shapes and sizes, diets are a surefire way to make yourself miserable and, ironically, unhealthier, and maybe we all should just mind our business a little more and quit commenting on people’s bodies to begin with.

Then GLP-1s came on the scene.

Now, quick caveat: I am not a doctor, nor am I a medical researcher.

What I am is an eating disorder therapist with almost a decade in the field, who has done a lot of work to heal my own relationship with food and my body.

I fully embrace all of the wonders that modern medicine has to offer, including some of the ways GLP-1s can and have been important tools for a variety of people. This article is not meant to shame any individual person who chooses to use or prescribe these medications. They serve a useful function for many folks. I’m glad they exist.

What I am not glad about—in fact, what sometimes enrages me—is that the diet industry immediately grabbed at the existence of these medications as a way to dismantle a decade of progress toward a saner world.

We are, to my absolute horror, back in a cultural ecosphere where skeletal frames walk red carpets, weight-loss ads feature prominently during the Super Bowl, and the media (particularly of the social kind) is gleefully bashing anyone who deigns to have a body with squishy bits.

This comes with a cost, and it can be deadly.

Almost 10% of Americans will struggle with a full-blown eating disorder in their lifetime, with countless others trapped in the subclinical misery of severe disordered eating. One of these people will die every hour due to their illness.¹

For this population, they are fighting a daily battle for their lives, and they need our support. Instead, we are feeding them right back to the wolves of a $165 billion—yes, billion—diet industry.

For context, $165 billion is more than the entire GDP of 65% of the world’s countries.² And that’s the diet industry *in the U.S. alone.*³

So where do we go from here?

Honestly, I’m not entirely sure. I think GLP-1s are here to stay, and so is the current fad idealizing an ultra-thin figure. But on an individual level, there are things you and I can do to continue to promote a more grounded world.

Diets take over when weight and appearance control too large a chunk of the life pie. That little voice will step in and convince you that you can’t live your life until you lose those last x pounds.

This is a lie, and it keeps you from experiencing the world—and from it getting to experience you!

Pour your time and resources into the things that actually matter for you, whether that’s your relationships, special interests, career goals, or creative pursuits.

One of the biggest pushbacks I receive when I speak on this subject is something along the lines of, “You’re anti-diet, so you must just not care about health.”

Not true! I am literally a healthcare provider—I very much care about health.

But what the diet industry has spent many of its billions of dollars on is convincing us that health = thinness. This is a deep oversimplification at best and an outright lie at worst.

The HAES movement is the counterbalance to this—a system of providers and researchers who are exploring and identifying health-promoting behaviors that are decoupled from the warped lens of the diet industry.

If health is your goal, start here.

One of my biggest fears of this cultural moment is that we are once again raising a generation of young people who will never have experienced another view, and who don’t have the frontal lobe development to think critically about the content they’re consuming.

Time spent investing in improving your own media literacy and teaching it to your kids is time well spent!

Despite the challenges, we thankfully live in a moment in time where there are many experienced professionals dedicated to helping clients heal their relationship with food and their bodies.

If you find that your own inner food and body chatter has gotten loud in this season, please do not hesitate to reach out to someone who can support you in getting back to a more grounded relationship with yourself.

Ultimately, we can’t turn back the clock. I also don’t think the answer is to fear GLP-1s or shame people who use them.

What we can do is keep asking better questions:

What does health actually look like? Who benefits when we are taught to hate our bodies? And what kind of relationship with food, movement, and our bodies do we want to model for the next generation?

We have already proven that culture can change, so why not do it again?

We get to decide what world we want to live in, and personally, I want that world to be one where we get to live in our bodies, not lose our lives trying to control them.

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If your relationship with food, your body, or the constant pressure around weight has started to feel overwhelming, you don’t have to navigate it alone. Rebecca provides eating disorder therapy and support for individuals working toward a healthier, more grounded relationship with food and their bodies. 

Our team at Dr. Vaccaro Counseling Group also works with parents and families who want support navigating body image, eating concerns, and the messages children and teens are receiving about weight and appearance. Whether you’re looking for support for yourself or guidance on how to approach these conversations with your child, contact our office to learn more or schedule an appointment.