stereotypes around food

A couple of weeks ago my friend made the comment “all girls in this school have some problems with food.” Although this comment was met by a great deal of defence by many people in my friendship circle. Although I am in a very specific type of school and the comment made was very innocent, it made me think: Is this really true and are there other stereotypes towards certain people liking and disliking food. I became very interested in the ideas, myths and stereotypes about different foods. Human beings make assumptions assuming ideas, such as all children are fussy and picky eaters or teenage girls are always on a diet, turning an opinion by one person into a stereotype.

The first stereotype I am going to write about is “All children are fussy eaters.” Firstly, I would like to start by giving stating the difference between a fussy and a picky eater. A picky eater is someone who is selective about what they eat. They only like certain foods. Scientists call this “food neophobia.” On the other hand, a fussy eater is someone who likes a food one day and then will reject it the next day. In a survey taken only 34% of parents say that their kids are fussy. Although, this number may seem high, the UK has the fussiest children in the world therefore the statistic is at the maximum it can reach. As over half of children in the UK clearly are not fussy the stereotype is unfair and untrue. In response to picky eaters after asking some of my friends, many of them said that both them and their siblings do no act like this. In all truthfulness, they said the opposite which I have also seen when helping with cookery courses. Many children will say they don’t like a food and then try it and eat it therefore the stereotype is totally incorrect.

Another stereotype is towards dieting especially in teenagers. Many people assume that all teenage girls are constantly dieting in order to lose weight. People believe that due to social media girls have a desire to be thin therefore ALL of us try various ideas to lose weight such as ketos and no sugar diets. However, although many of us will try different ways to lose weight, not everyone does and in actually fact, most do not.

Stereotypes about dieting within the genders are also unjust. People assume that only girls go on a diet with the desire to be thin. However, in the US 25% of men are on a diet which is only 8% less than the female study, American statistics show. Therefore, it is also an unfair judgment to say most men do not diet. Around 25% of people diagnosed with anorexia in the UK every year are men and in the US 25% of people diagnosed with bulimia are men. Therefore, I do not understand where the idea about only girls having problems with food. Furthermore, I’m sure many of you reading this are thinking that all of the 25% are a very certain kind of man. Yet another stereotype that the men with eating disorders are all ballet dancers and models. However, men from all ethnicities, ages and backgrounds can have an eating disorder. Male actor, Russell Brand, struggled with bulimia from the age of 11.

As you can see there are many stereotypes within food and eating habits that need to be stopped. So, next time you are with a friend or family member and they say something you do not think is fair or true, tell them the truth, tell them that they should really know in order to break the stereotypes around us

If you enjoyed reading tis post or have an idea for another topic for me to write about then do not hesitate to ask me in the comments section as I would love to hear what you have to say

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