Fat bodies, diet culture, and human flourishing: How did we get it so wrong?

Abstract

Contemporary diet culture is detrimental to many Western men and women, though women are disproportionately impacted. This results in poor body image, low self-esteem, and unhealthy lifestyles. Christian discourse is not immune to the influence of diet culture, with many popular Christian pastors and authors adopting this paradigm and seeking to align it with a Christian worldview. When an understanding of a human being as an anthropological duality is brought to bear on the issue of diet culture, a more consistently Christian anthropology can resource a healthier view of the embodied self and provide resources for a robust Christian response to diet culture.