History of Dieting in America

When you hear the words 'diet' or 'dieting,' a fad diet likely comes to mind. You may think of specific diets like the Tiffany plate diet, the keto diet, or the carnivore diet. You may picture eliminating certain foods or entire food groups. The “classic fad diet” is characterized as a “food removal diet,” focusing on removing specific foods or nutrients.*

But when did dieting become popular, and why? In the U.S., the focus on what we eat and how it affects our health AND weight has been a significant concern for the past 200 years. As you may have noticed, I separated health and weight because they're not equivalent, and we haven't always focused on weight.

Schwartz notes in his book Never Satisfied: “No diet comes without a larger social agenda." Culture, politics, and religion influence dieting in the U.S. For better or worse, dieting has become part of our social identity. Dieting did not originate in the U.S., but the American culture tends to focus more on dieting and weight loss than most other cultures. Still, we have more obesity than 90% of the world (Worldobesity.org).

Is our preoccupation with dieting helping anything? Yes? No? It's complicated.

One goal of my website is to provide the history and science behind popular diets (starting with our oldest fad diets). Familiarizing ourselves with the history and science of diets in the U.S. can help us understand why dieting is commonplace, why people are confused about food, and why sometimes our food relationships are a mess.

There is more evidence-based and opinion-based nutrition information available to us than ever before, and it's so easy to access and can be found in just a moment on our smart devices.

I want you to be able to make a well-informed decision before starting a diet yourself, or if you’re a healthcare provider before recommending a diet to a client. I want you to stop and think, “Why this diet?”

Informed Bites blogs are not a replacement for years of nutrition education. Still, I would like to establish a place online where you can come for evidence-based nutrition information, whether you’re a healthcare provider, a client, or someone who loves to geek out about nutrition.

In my next post, I will explore the Graham diet, one of America's earliest diet crazes. Meanwhile, here's a brief guide to help you identify fad diets as outlined by Chrzan and Cargill in their book, Anxious Eaters.

Not all of these criteria need to be met for a diet to be considered a fad, but these guidelines can you help you quickly identify one.

1.        Requires eliminating 1+ food groups

2.        Promises quick weight loss (5+ pounds/week)

3.        Relies on testimonies as proof

4.        Relies on special foods or supplements

5.        Endorsed by a celebrity

6.        Appears too good to be true

Another factor to consider is that physical activity is essential for overall health, regardless of whether weight loss is a goal. Be skeptical of any diet that claims no exercise is required!

---

*References

1. Chrzan, J. and Cargill, K. (2022). Anxious eaters: Why we fall for fad diets. New York: Columbia University Press.

2. Schwartz, Hillel. (1986). Never satisfied : A cultural history of diets, fantasies, and fat. New York: Free Press ; London : Collier Macmillan.

3. World Obesity. https://data.worldobesity.org/rankings/?age=a&sex=t