“[It’s] the same old narrative that we hear, that it only happens to white folks and white women. And I argue that eating disorders not only don’t discriminate, but they target marginalized communities such as women of color.”
This week on the show, a conversation with Gloria Lucas, the founder of Nalgona Positivity Pride We’ll be talking about her organization’s social justice approach to eating disorders that centers the specific needs of Black Indigenous and Communities of Color and she’ll share details about her new eating disorders harm reduction program.
It’s no secret that we live in a culture fixated on thin bodies as the ideal body type. Anti-fat bias is pervasive and often gets couched in health concerns, while other, more dangerous health risks are ignored. Almost anyone living in this culture can end up stressing about weight and taking actions to control it. For some it goes further.
For anyone encountering eating disorders primarily through the media, the picture that often comes to mind is an ultra-thin affluent white woman, skipping meals or throwing up after binge eating.
The reality is much more complicated. Eating disorders can affect people of any gender, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, age or income--and not everyone with an eating disorder is underweight.
Disordered eating can show up in a number of different ways--from restricting the diet to the point of anorexia, or compulsive binging–-which may or may not be followed by purging behaviors (including overexercising) a cycle also known as bulimia. There is even an unofficial type of eating disorder known as orthorexia that involves an obsession with clean eating or with finding and strictly following a perfectly healthy diet.
The stereotype of eating disorders as an issue that primarily effects white women has meant they often go undiagnosed for women of color, men and transgender folks.
The Body Mass Index, or BMI, is the system used by most medical providers to determineideal weights. because that system was developed with problematic methodologies that did not take into account the wide range of human body types, a black woman, for instance, in a more curvy body, could be suffering from anorexia but be told to lose weight by her medical provider who is only looking at her BMI score.
There is much to explore on this complex topic. With us today, to help us unpack SOME of this complexity, is Gloria Lucas, She is the founder of Nalgona Positivity Pride, based in Los Angeles. And she has developed a Harm Reduction Program for Eating disorders.
Resources:
Coalition for Overcoming Problem Eating/Exercise (COPE) Indiana University-Bloomington
On why sustained weight loss is so difficult:
Maintenance of lost weight and long-term management of obesity-Medical Clinics of North America
Dieting Does Not Work, UCLA Researchers Report-UCLA Newsroom
Why People Diet, Lose Weight and Gain It All Back- Cleveland Clinic
An interesting discusssion of this topic can be found here.
On The Accuracy of the BMI
Why BMI is a Flawed Health Standard, Especially for People of Color-Washington Post
How Often Is the BMI Misleading?-New York Times
Top Ten Reasons Why The BMI is Bogus-NPR (opinion)
An interesting discussion of The BMI on the Maintenance Phase Podcast
Music on this Episode:
The Earth Eats theme music is composed by Erin Tobey and performed by Erin and Matt Tobey.
Additional music on this episode from Universal Production Music.
