Fat Talk Free Week is an international, 5 day body activism campaign to highlight body image issues and the damaging impact of the ‘thin ideal’ on women in society.
Fat Talk Free Week
What is Fat Talk?
Fat Talk describes all of the statements made in everyday conversation that reinforce the thin ideal and contribute to women’s dissatisfaction with their bodies and can be extremely damaging. Examples of fat talk may include: “I’m so fat,” “Do I look fat in this?” “I need to lose 10 pounds” and “She’s too fat to be wearing that swimsuit.”
Dangers of Fat Talk
Seemingly innocent comments like, "You look so good! Have you lost weight?" Or, "You look really thin in that outfit! I love it!" often fuel unhealthy body image and feed the notion that people only look good if they lose weight.
Research shows that a mere 3-5 minutes of fat talk can significantly worsen body dissatisfaction (Stice, Maxfield and Wells, 2003). Such comments also can reinforce unhealthy behaviours, and in some cases may help (along with other factors) nudge someone further down the path towards an eating disorder or provide evidence to someone with an eating disorder that their over concern with weight or shape is justified.
The results of our body image survey conducted in April 2011 revealed that 30% of women would trade at least one year of their life to achieve their ideal body weight and shape. Although people often believe that fat talk is useful for combatting obesity, fat talk promotes body dissatisfaction which research connects with decreased exercise and lower levels of fruits and vegetable consumption. It is now clear that hating our bodies is not an effective path towards health.
It is time we take control over our own destinies, our own bodies, and our own inner dialogues. We are changing the conversation to create a more positive body image for women everywhere
Fat Talk Free Week Aims
The Succeed Foundation along with our key partners Tri Delta (in the U.S) aim to raise the nation’s consciousness about the dangers of "fat talk" and the impact it has on women’s self-esteem and confidence. The goal of the Fat Talk Free Week initiative is to eliminate that kind of talk from our lives, regardless of the source. So whether you overhear someone else making a comment to someone about how they look, or your friend asks you to critique how she looks, or whether you're doing the critiquing on your own – step back and stop the fat talk. We can't have a healthy body image if we're engaging in fat talk. So the motto of the campaign is, "Friends don't let friends fat-talk." A worthy and enviable goal.
When is Fat Talk Free Week?
The campaign runs each year in the month of October.
Since its initial launch by Tri Delta in the United States in 2008, the campaign has become a national success and spread globally. Last year the Fat Talk Free Week Viral Campaign – posted on YouTube became one of the most viewed videos of the week in Education Category; viewed by over 100,000 people!
Following the campaign’s huge success in North America, The Succeed Foundation aims to bring Fat Talk Free week into the UK. Stay tuned for dates of the UK Fat Talk Free Week 2!
Where did Fat Talk Free Week Come From?
This 4th international body activism event was born from Tri Delta’s award-winning body image education and eating disorders prevention program, Reflections. This year The Succeed Foundation adapted the programme for the UK and created The Succeed Body Image Programme, the first evidence-based peer-led body image education and eating disorder prevention programme, which is currently being run at the University of West England.
Eating disorder risk factors, biology and body Image
The Succeed Foundation recognises that eating disorders are multi factorial and heritable disorders with a strong biological basis. Significant research including prospective research, has also identified shape and weight concerns as a potent, replicated and potentially modifiable risk factor for some eating disorders.[Jacobi & Fittig, 2010] Additional research indicates that evidence-based interventions that successfully reduce this risk factor can reduce the onset of some eating disorders. [Stice et al., 2008; Taylor et al., 2006] The Succeed Foundation seeks to reduce the toxic body image environment in our culture via the use of The Succeed Body Image Programme as well as initiatives like Fat Talk Free Week with the aim of making our body image environment healthier for all individuals and more facilitative of recovery for those with eating disorders.
