To think that MN is a haven for people with eating disorders.

[IPityThePontipines]

On any food thread there are abnormal levels of fixation with certain food groups being "bad" or "poison" and an awful lot of people seem to have very unhappy relationships with food.

And before anyone pops up with "obesity crisis", I'd point out that we are seeing growing rates of anorexia and bulimia in the UK too.

Lol wolpertinger
The "demonisation" of certain foods, and the evangelicalisation of others is out of control.
The whole of society has drifted towards orthorexia

One in five children leaving primary school are obese. I think it's worth being open to different perspectives. From someone who remembers when fruit juice was offered as a starter in restaurants in a tiny glass, remembers laughing at that as an adult and now realises they were right in the early 80s.

The nutritional value of alcohol is pretty much zero, but I don't see it being referred to as "shit

Oh I don't know, post here that you quaff more than a glass a week and someone will be querying whether you're on the slippery slope to addiction.

I take OP's point but think it is a societal thing. Here's a thread with someone asking whether a small cube of cheese marketed as a "craving" is classified by Slimming World as a "healthy extra", to be told, no, it counts as half a "syn".

I mean, WTF? Cravings, healthy, sins? What a load of moralistic orthorexic bollocks for a small piece of cheese that, in and of itself, is none of these things. Whole diets are what should be evaluated as healthy or unhealthy, and even then only for a particular person.

MN is teeming with people with anxieties. OMG, all the types of phobia & anxieties I never heard of before (or since). And parents of kids with SN, esp. ASC, but I guess I understand better why they need to seek support online since they are sparse on ground IRL. There are so many threads I ignore because I don't have anything in common/no experience with a key part of the poster's story (like anxiety or ASC).

Then there are the people with Perfect Peter children due to their claimed Perfect Pamela parenting , or who move in circles where almost everyone has been to Oxbridge or medical school or at least can plausibly aspire to those for their DC.

I had a form of bulimia, suspect that's why I'm pretty chilled about quality of food. Delighted if DC eat raisins or drink lots of juice.

This tittering bollocks drives me batty. Ooh how many syns have I eaten today, shall I mix some shit flavourless yoghurts together, they're free foods! Oh cake, I shouldn't, ooh I'll be naughty, oh I'm disgusting and fat, fat is lazy, are you sure you should be having that, don't worry I'm synning it

Oh god don't get started on Syns, points etc.

I overheard two colleagues a couple weeks ago informing a third colleague that bananas were bad, sooo very bad, WAY too much sugar. One went on to say "I've told X (8yr old daughter) were not having bananas anymore" and less than an hour later took out a huge bag of jellybeans announcing that these were a great treat, could eat as many as you like as they're "free". I'm guessing this meant free of points or Syns or whatever the terminology of the weight loss regime she's decided to follow.

These are intelligent women in their 30's with children btw.

Oh I don't know, post here that you quaff more than a glass a week and someone will be querying whether you're on the slippery slope to addiction.

YY. I had a thread asking about alcohol consumption the evening before surgery (one glass, while observing the fasting rules). Cue lots of pursed lips and 'very unadvised', 'I wouldn't do that'. One poster told me I needed help to address my addiction! Then an anaesthetist came on and told them to wind their necks in

As a diabetic I avoid bananas because they bugger up my blood sugar and I have rigid and complicated dietary rules, none of which are at all relevant to healthy children with ordinary metabolisms, who should bloody well eat bananas. Bananas are nice.

real I bet you don't replace them with jellybeans either

I don't eat bananas cause I think they taste bad.

Also a lot of people equate thin- healthy about 18 months ago I was teeny weeny tiny. My diet was the worst it's ever been. Cheap cheese and white bread rolls, crisps, chocolate and Pepsi. Literally nothing else.

I don't know, I don't think this is the case really.

I have anorexia and, while I'm not ashamed to bring that up here when it's relevant, I don't think MN is an atmosphere where I naturally want to discuss it and all that comes with it.

There are enough special ED forums around to do that on.

I said this on another thread and I'll say it on here.

We, as a society, have become obsessed by our diet and what food we think is 'good'.

Clean eating
Paleo.
Low carbing.
Vegetarian
Pescatarian
Vegan.
Raw food
5:2.

It's become an obsession and not healthy.

www.theguardian.com/society/2009/aug/16/orthorexia-mental-health-eating-disorder

YANBU to think some of the people posting might have eating disorders. YABU to think that all of the people posting who've cut food groups out have one. Some of them will have just misunderstood the scientific basis of the claims. Helped along greatly by the poor reporting in the media and people trying to publicise their own books.

I think a lot of posters are obsessed with weight and don't realise themselves how damaging their obsession is - because its disguised as 'being healthy'. I also think that mnet in general can feed some people's anxiety as much as it allays it in others.

Someone started a thread about being fat and proud a few months ago. It didn't go well. Whilst opinions, including those of medical experts, do differ and people are understandably defensive about their own lifestyle choices, there were some on the "thin" side of the debate who sounded seriously terrified of the mere concept of body fat. Bodies are supposed to have some fat (though admittedly not nearly as much as mine). There was one who seemed to think that anyone over a size 10 was guaranteed to contract diabetes and worse, and would very soon be being carted around on wheels at vast expense to the poor old taxpayer. That sort of hysteria does not give healthy eating a good name, it just gives us fatties something to point and laugh at.

I am genuinely baffled by the attitudes to food on here and in awe of the people brave enough to ask for an opinion.

"Grapes have far too much sugar"

"that is a very wheat heavy diet"

"try replacing digestives with a rice cake"

"there is no need for snacks between meals"

Fuck. Off.

These people are going to make their children obsessed with food in all the wrong ways. As soon as they get any kind of independence, they'll be inhaling mars bars and pringles while feeling guilty and trying to hide it.

Thing is, I do think grapes have too much sugar and not enough fibre compared to other fruit. They however are still yummy and better for you than a packet of Minstrels

Frozen grapes are amazing. Bite sized sorbet.

Clementines rule, though I'll grant you grapes, and very black cherries.

I remember a recent thread where someone said that people who were at the higher end of their recommended BMI for their height weren't used to being a 'normal weight'. That annoyed me.

Annie is that the same poster, I wonder, who insisted that anyone in the upper half on the 'healthy' BMI range was already 'dangerously' overweight? I saw a poster say that repeatedly and it sort of blew my mind a bit.

Cross posted squoosh, I bet we're probably talking about the same thing!

Although your post is several minutes earlier than mine, but I couldn't see it when I posted That's weird.