Edited By: Joy Jiang
As of late, the larger concepts of and movement for health and wellness have been in the spotlight. There appears to be a seemingly endless list of trends, apps, exercises, and diets that people engage in, in the name of well-being and health, perhaps indicating an increasing awareness of the significance of mental and physical health. While on a superficial level, aspiring for a healthy life is largely beneficial, many have raised concerns regarding whether the movement has negative social or structural implications, and whether the desire to lead healthful lives has been hijacked by corporate interests.
Regarding social concerns, the wellness movement may provide an outlet or catalyst for disordered eating done under the guise of wellness and health. In no way am I advocating that wellness causes eating disorders – but I am suggesting that while seeking good health is objectively beneficial, pursuing a healthy diet or lifestyle in a way that is obsessive is unhealthy and makes those susceptible to eating disorders significantly more likely to develop or fall back into them. The wellness movement has transformed into more than just a lifestyle to an ideology, one that can be displayed in the negative attitudes towards those who fail to subscribe to the wellness movement. Because wellness and “healthy” eating are represented to consist of a diet that is not only incredibly prescriptive and limiting, but also claims some sort of moralizing aspect, the wellness movement can allow those with food insecurities to rationalize potentially unhealthy eating decisions while claiming to be health-conscious.
More specifically, a rising term within the eating disorder medical community is “orthorexia,” which refers to individuals with an “‘unhealthy obsession’ with otherwise healthy eating.” While not recognized by the DSM-5 as a clinical diagnosis, many health practitioners are resorting to suggesting orthorexia as the source or explanation for patients’ disordered eating. Orthorexia isn’t simply the pursuit of healthy eating, rather, it occurs when pursuing healthy eating becomes inextricably linked to self-esteem and worth and becomes a fixation and intrusive in the day-to-day functioning of an individual, meaning that the obsession with healthy eating impairs social relationships or activities. Deviating from the self-imposed diet causes feelings of guilt and possibly self-loathing. Once again, this discussion of orthorexia is not to say that all those who subscribe to the wellness movement suffer from orthorexia, but that a society that aggressively promotes healthy eating can make it difficult for some to realize when their desire to eat healthy becomes problematic. It also makes it easier for those who suffer from orthorexia to be in denial as they can simply view it as eating well in comparison to others.
On a separate note, examining the issue through a leftist lens, perhaps the wellness movement is only a symptom within a broader diseased political system that enables alienation and isolation. The wellness movement is hinged on the idea that wellbeing is an individual problem and can thus only be resolved individually, discrediting any collective approaches or frameworks to understanding the issues associated with wellness. It frames issues of sickness, sadness, or exhaustion as individual rather than structural or socioeconomic, so the methods to resolve such undesired stressors are individualistic. By extension, the isolating strategies of achieving wellness stand in opposition to collective social change as a resolution to significant issues of health and well-being. Because we are so obsessed with individual wellness, collective wellness is out of reach. This is an extension of the isolation dilemma caused by a system that values work and productivity over anything else. This further distracts from structural issues like poverty – what role does wellness play when much of the world’s population doesn’t have access to organic food, yoga and tai chi instructors, and sleep-monitoring apps?
In terms of the wellness movement being hijacked by corporate interests, this mainly refers to supermarkets and other retailers exploiting the wellness craze by marketing “superfoods” seeing as they are a profitable opportunity. It also inspires the usage and purchase of an endless array of objects supposedly marketed for health reasons – from sleep-tracking gadgets to fit bits to expensive super foods to exercise programs based on genetic profiles, industries are taking advantage of this and we are buying into it.
Although aspiring to lead a healthful life is objectively a beneficial goal, the wellness movement is not without controversy. Perhaps being moderate in our decisions and consciously reflecting on why we adopt certain health or lifestyle choices is one way to begin to navigate some of the problematic tendencies of the wellness movement. Are our decisions mindless attempts to partake in a larger trend or are they changes we genuinely believe will improve our lives?