Teenagers: You Can Say No to Diet Culture

"One of my favorite things about teenagers is that they are smart and skeptical. They don't appreciate condescension, they usually don't fall for it when adults aren't truthful with them, and they don't want to be underestimated. As a former New Yorker, I appreciate the skepticism that a lot of teens have when approaching any person or interaction that feels phony."

"This is one of the reasons why it can be both humbling and challenging to parent a teenager. And it is unfortunately the reason why when my teenage daughter asked me if she could get Snapchat on her phone, my answer of "no, because I said so" didn't fly. She wanted to know why, and my reasoning better be airtight."

"It wasn't until I started talking with them about the fact that the vaping industry was intentionally targeting teens to try to create lifelong customers that the conversation shifted. Teens were appalled to learn that the vaping companies created fun flavors that would specifically appeal to them as part of their marketing strategy to profit off of them. Teens were repulsed by the sliminess of that marketing strategy, and they certainly didn't want to be pawns."

Diet culture has been repackaged as "wellness," using subtler marketing to promote restrictive behaviors and profit from youth. Adolescents are smart, skeptical, and resistant to condescension, requiring clear, evidence-based explanations when adults set limits. Teens respond strongly when shown that industries intentionally target them with appealing products and flavors to build lifelong customers. Demonstrating manipulative marketing elicits disgust and empowers teens to reject being pawns. Because adolescents are the most vulnerable group for developing eating disorders, teaching media literacy and how to outsmart marketing tactics can reduce harm and support healthier choices.

Read at Psychology Today