Fat Talk Free Week

October 18-22, 2010 is Fat Talk Free Week. Fat Talk Free Week is a five-day public awareness effort sponsored by Tri Delta, The Center for Living, Learning and Leading, and  others. The campaign’s goal is to draw attention to the damaging impact of fat talk and to promote body acceptance.

“Fat Talk”  refers to a very specific type of negative self-talk:

Fat Talk describes all of the statements made in everyday conversation that reinforce the thin ideal and contribute to women’s dissatisfaction with their bodies. Examples of fat talk may include: “I’m so fat,” “Do I look fat in this?” “I need to lose 10 pounds” and “She’s too fat to be wearing that swimsuit.” Statements that are considered fat talk don’t necessarily have to be negative; they can seem positive yet also reinforce the need to be thin – “You look great! Have you lost weight?”

What can you do?

• Submit a video about how you are ending fat talk (and get a chance to win a $1000 gift card to Best Buy!)
• Pledge, even if just for this one week or day, to eliminate negative body commentary from your conversations with others and yourself.
• Learn about and take part in positive body image activities, for example Operation Beautiful.
• Become a fan of Fat Talk Free Week on Facebook follow @endfattalk and join the Fat Talk Free conversation on Twitter with hashtag #EndFatTalk.

Kathleen Young, Psy.D.

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