Healthy - Oct 2021 (Sampler)

F or many of us, one of the pleasures of dining out is not worrying about counting the calories. But that’s set to change from April next year, when it will become mandatory for restaurants, cafés and takeaways in England to include calorie counts on menus. Themove is intended to help ‘tackle obesity and improve the nation’s health’, but eating disorder charity Beat is against it. They surveyed over 1100 people with existing or past eating disorders; and 93% said the move would impact them negatively. Up to 3.4 million people in the UK are a ected by an eating disorder (with numbers soaring during the pandemic), but even if you’re not one of them, being confronted with cold, hard numbers when you order a pizza could be damaging. ‘Many How to have a heal thy relat ionship wi th food TOX IC DI ET CULTURE IS DAMAGING OUR RELAT IONSHIP WI TH FOOD AND CAUS ING EAT ING DISORDERS . HERE ’ S HOW TO TAKE BACK CONTROL DR JULIET ROSEWALL is a clinical psychologist and co-author of Heal your Relationship with Food (Trigger, £12.99) THE EXPERT people who obsess over calories go on to develop eating disorders,’ says clinical psychologist Dr Juliet Rosewall. ‘And calorie-counting could perpetuate unhealthy behaviour among those who are already vulnerable.’ An all-pervasive diet culture doesn’t help. ‘Our society is saturated with unhelpful messages about food, alongside inaccurate information on dieting,’ says Rosewall. As a result, we struggle to see food neutrally, labelling foods as ‘bad’ or ‘good’. Eating problems often develop gradually. ‘They may start with small, restrictive changes in your thoughts and behaviours,’ says Rosewall. ‘But these changes can become more habitual.’ So how can we banish the guilt and enjoy healthy eating for its own sake? ‘Exploring our L I F E S K I L L S 102 healthy-magazine.co.uk