There’s been a lot of research done over the years that’s focused on the way kids eat — and the ways in which they can develop healthy (or unhealthy) eating habits. Some studies have looked to the influence of a child’s mother on their attitudes towards food — but according to one journalist who’s spent years exploding nutrition, eating and people’s attitudes to both, that’s missing a lot of the story.
Virginia Sole-Smith is the author of the book The Eating Instinct: Food Culture, Body Image, and Guilt in America and the Substack newsletter Burnt Toast. Her latest book, Fat Talk: Parenting in the Age of Diet Culture, takes a look at the challenging relationship between parenting and food — and convincingly argues that the role of fathers in their kids’ dining habits has been overlooked for too long.
The Atlantic recently published an excerpt from Sole-Smith’s new book, which cites a 2014 study that found evidence of only 20 studies that took stock of the influence of fathers. According to Sole-Smith, things have improved somewhat since then — but, to state the obvious, that’s a lot of science that’s left a significant factor overlooked.
Why We Still Aren’t Talking About Men’s Eating Disorders
We know that “men get eating disorders too,” but gendered stereotypes still keep men from getting the help and representation they needSole-Smith argues that this can be viewed as in tandem with another issue surrounding men and health — the idea that there isn’t enough discussion about men having eating disorders. “Men — especially straight, cisgender, white, thin men — aren’t defined by their appearance to the same degree that women and other marginalized people tend to be,” Sole-Smith writes. This, she continues, can explain why they’re left out of the discussion over kids’ eating habits.
It’s a welcome reminder that men do wrestle with their own issues surrounding food — and that this can have repercussions beyond the health of just one person.
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