Come from a place of compassion and understanding that society puts pressure on us to eat a certain way and look a certain way and those external societal messages may seep into our value and self-worth. Society and culture are the problem.
Eating disorders are complex mental health conditions that affect millions worldwide, transcending age, gender, and cultural boundaries. They are not simply about food but involve a range of psychological, physical, and social issues. Supporting a loved one through this struggle can be challenging, requiring understanding, patience, and knowledge of the right approaches to truly make a difference.
In this series, we aim to shed light on the most effective ways to offer support, understanding, and hope to those battling an eating disorder. We are talking to psychologists, nutritionists, doctors, therapists, and survivors, who can provide valuable perspectives on nurturing recovery, fostering resilience, and promoting healthy relationships with food and body image. As a part of this series, we had the pleasure of interviewing Sarah Ganginis, MS, RD, LDN.
Sarah Ganginis is a registered dietitian and certified intuitive eating counselor. She is in private practice and specializes in eating disorder treatment, intuitive eating, and works with all ages. Sarah assisted in writing the Maryland State Department of Education’s health curriculum framework and her work was featured in a podcast by Sunny Side Up Nutrition, mentioned in the New York Times, and in the book “Fat Talk: Parenting in the Age of Diet Culture” by Virginia Sole-Smith. She continues to advocate for change in health and nutrition education to promote inclusive nutrition messages.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series. Before we dive into our discussion, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you share with us the backstory about what brought you to your specific career path?
I’ve always loved nutrition, from the first time I took a course in high school, I knew I wanted to be in the field of health in some way. In my college years, I loved the nutrition field, while I also didn’t connect with some of the messages such as good and bad food language like labeling food as “healthy” and “unhealthy”. At the time, I wasn’t aware (or taught) of groups and movements like anti-diet and Health At Every Size ® (HAES®). My first job as a dietitian was working for an eating disorder treatment center and a lot of my nutrition knowledge learned in years past felt backwards and this new way of looking at nutrition connected more with my beliefs. All foods fit. There’s no need to moralize food into good and bad categories which prompt guilt with eating. Nutrition education is rooted in ob*sity prevention (I’ve learned to write the word “obesity” with an asterisk to not contribute to the stigma of the word), which idolizes thinness over health because nutrition recommendations are coming from a place of restriction of calories and certain foods to prevent a body size. My career has started and continued to be about eating disorder treatment and it’s also morphed into so much more, which includes advocating for changes in schools to create a more inclusive environment for nutrition education. To see and read some of the work I have done in the school systems, you can follow here:
Sunny Side Up Nutrition Podcast: https://sunnysideupnutrition.com/episode/school-nutrition-health-curriculums-with-sarah-ganginis/
New York Times Article mentioning the work I did for the health curriculum in Maryland: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/12/parenting/remote-learning-schools-diet-kids.html
And the book: “Fat Talk: Parenting in the Age of Diet Culture” by Virginia Sole-Smith. My work with the school health curriculum in Maryland is mentioned in chapter 10.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
“Food is not nutritionally equal, but it should be emotionally equal”- inspired by the authors of Intuitive Eating, Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch. For example, we don’t eat desserts for nourishment, we eat desserts for the joy and satisfaction. We can feel good about both- eating foods that nourish and eating foods simply for joy. I use this quote a lot for folx who are searching for a healthy relationship to food and who are trying to unlearn messages that moralize food as good or bad.
Are you working on any exciting new projects now?
I am in the process of publishing a children’s nutrition book with a friend and colleague. The book is for children and their parents and caregivers and for teachers as a resource for nutrition education at an elementary school level. The book is designed to be inclusive in nutrition education as well as represent body diversity.
How do you think that will help people?
The book is one of a kind and it will help children and adults in their lives explore food in a positive view while also including representation in the illustrations.
According to this study cited by the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders, at least 30 million people in the U.S. of all ages and genders suffer from an eating disorder. Can you suggest 3–5 reasons why this has become such a critical issue recently?
- Social media is connected to increased body dissatisfaction. Whether social media or other media sources like television, magazines, etc., there’s still a cultural thin ideal in our media and a lack of body diversity.
- Nutrition education taught in school (and the general public) is centered around preventing larger body sizes, which contributes to the cultural thin ideal as well as weight bias and stigma.
- Diet culture has been around for years and will not go away any time soon- there’s more diets and the industry is growing and profiting from a system that fails. The diet industry has grown to a $70 billion dollar industry.
Based on your insight, what can concrete steps can a) individuals, b) corporations, c) communities and d) leaders do to address the core issues that are leading to this problem? — health classes, study on environment
First, I recommend individuals, corporations, communities, and leaders create a safe space for all bodies. No diet talk in the office, at school, etc. No commenting on a person’s body size, shape, weight loss, weight gain. The question, “If we lived in a weight inclusive world, how would you take care of yourself?” can lead to more positive nutrition education and conversations. Additionally, not everyone has access to food, water, fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. Nutrition education should be about accessibility and take an “all foods fit” approach. Please listen to the podcast where I was a guest speaker to learn more about my opinion on health classes (same podcast as provided before from Sunny Side Up Nutrition): https://sunnysideupnutrition.com/episode/school-nutrition-health-curriculums-with-sarah-ganginis/
As you know, one of the challenges of an eating disorder is the harmful, and dismissive sentiment of “why can’t you just control yourself”. What do you think needs to be done to make it apparent that an eating disorder is an illness just like heart disease or schizophrenia? This question is better suited for a therapist and/or doctor.
Here is the main question of our interview. Can you please share with our readers 5 ways to support a loved one who is struggling with an eating disorder? If you can, can you share an example from your own experience?
1 . Accept and respect body diversity.
2 . Create an environment that does not put food in moral terms, like “good”, “bad”, “healthy”, “unhealthy”, and “junk”.
3 . Create an environment that’s free from diet talk.
4 . Create an environment that is free from making comments about other’s appearances.
5 . Come from a place of compassion and understanding that society puts pressure on us to eat a certain way and look a certain way and those external societal messages may seep into our value and self-worth. Society and culture are the problem.
How do you navigate the balance between offering support and respecting the autonomy of a loved one with an eating disorder?
Support can be listening and understanding, without offering advice.
Is there a message you would like to tell someone who may be reading this, who is currently struggling with an eating disorder?
There is no shame in the eating disorder. The eating disorder is serving you in some ways. Maybe be curious if there are ways the eating disorder is not serving you.
In your experience, what are the most effective strategies for building resilience and a positive self-image in individuals recovering from an eating disorder?
Diversify your social media.
What are your favorite books, podcasts, or resources that have helped people with this struggle? Can you explain why you like them?
I enjoy the following books because they challenge cultural ideals and more:
“Belly of the Beast” by Da’Shaun L. Harrison
“Fearing the Black Body: the Racial Origins of Fat Phobia” by Sabrina Strings
“What we Don’t Talk About When We Talk About Fat” by Aubrey Gordon
“Fat Talk: Parenting in the Age of Diet Culture” by Virginia Sole-Smith
“Sick Enough” by Jennifer Gaudiani
I also love the podcast, “Maintenance Phase” by Aubrey Gordon and Michael Hobbes, which challenges a lot of weight-based science, diets, and diet culture.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the largest amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
I strongly believe in the anti-diet movement. Health at Every Size® is a good start, while I also recommend the books listed above as well.
How can our readers continue to follow your work online?
My website: www.sganginisrd.com
Thank you so much for these insights! This was so inspiring!
Sarah Ganginis On How To Support A Loved One Who Is Struggling With An Eating Disorder was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.