768 - The Food Industry and the #Antidiet Movement
Public Health On Call
The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
4.6 • 644 Ratings
🗓️ 12 June 2024
⏱️ 11 minutes
🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS
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Summary
About this episode:
What is the relationship between food industry giants like General Mills and a social media movement aimed at pushing back on diet culture and unrealistic body images? An investigation by health journalists at The Examination found that food companies and dieticians appear to be co-opting the hashtag "antidiet" to promote their products.
Guest:
Sasha Chavkin is a senior reporter with The Examination
Host:
Dr. Josh Sharfstein is vice dean for public health practice and community engagement at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, a faculty member in health policy, a pediatrician, and former secretary of Maryland's Health Department.
Show links and related content:
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As obesity rises, Big Food and dieticians push "anti-diet" advice—The Examination
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The food industry pays "influencer' dieticians to shape your eating habits—The Washington Post
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to Public Health On Call, a podcast from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, |
| 0:05.9 | where we bring evidence, experience, and perspective to make sense of today's leading health challenges. |
| 0:16.3 | If you have questions or ideas for us, please send an email to public health question at jhhhu.edu. |
| 0:23.8 | That's public health question at jhhu.edu for future podcast episodes. |
| 0:30.6 | This is Lindsay Smith Rogers. |
| 0:32.7 | Today, how food industry giants like General Mills are capitalizing on the hashtag anti-diet movement on social |
| 0:39.7 | media. Sasha Chofkin, a correspondent with the examination, returns to the podcast to talk with |
| 0:45.8 | Dr. Josh Sharfstein about his latest investigation into food companies that are co-opting efforts to |
| 0:52.5 | push back on unrealistic body images and diet culture in order to promote their own products. |
| 0:59.3 | Let's listen. |
| 1:00.8 | If you've ever been to Starbucks and you have one of their brownies, what are you doing? |
| 1:06.5 | Having a better relationship with food, not counting calories, allows me to go to Starbucks and get whatever the heck I want and not feel guilty about it. |
| 1:15.7 | Here's what's missing about conversations about processed foods. |
| 1:18.4 | They're not inherently bad for you. |
| 1:20.3 | Thank goodness for processed foods. |
| 1:22.3 | Be cautious of wellness cultures messaging around what you should and shouldn't be eating. |
| 1:27.0 | Because over time it can lead you to and shouldn't be eating. Because over time, it can |
| 1:27.8 | lead you to being afraid of all food. Sasha Chapkin, it's great to have you back on public health |
| 1:37.0 | on call. You're a journalist with the examination, and you are here to talk about your latest |
| 1:43.0 | investigation into the food industry. It's great to see you. |
| 1:46.1 | Thanks, Josh. Now, when we last talked, you were watching TikToks all day, at least in my mind, |
| 1:53.5 | and you were noticing that the food industry was paying dietitians to endorse their products. |
... |
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