‘Toxic messages’: Alarming surge in calls for help with eating disorders in fallout of festive season

The Butterfly Foundation is bracing for a surge in calls for eating disorder support as new year’s resolutions spark a flood of “toxic messages” around dieting and weight loss.

The eating disorder helpline is bracing for a surge of calls next week amid a flood of dieting and weight loss content and the festive season’s fallout.

The Butterfly Foundation has revealed calls to their national helpline surge by an average of 120 per cent in the first week of the new year.

The data, based on calls to 1300 ED Hope in 2022 and 2023, compared call volume in early January with the last few weeks of December and found weekly demand more than doubled in the new year.

Butterfly Foundation National Helpline Manager Sarah Cox said it was “challenging time” for many amid the “real push around diet and exercise” and new years’ resolutions.

“It can really trigger vulnerable people,” she said.

“There’s so much focus on what we call the western ‘thin ideal’ and just all these portrayals of unrealistic body and beauty standards.

“The more we’re bombarded with those kinds of toxic messages, it’s really hard not to be affected by that in some way.”

As the new year approaches, so does an influx of messaging about weight loss. Picture: Sarah Matray

She encouraged people struggling to be kind to themselves, reach out to friends and their helpline, and “curate” their social media feed to avoid diet-related new year content.

“Wherever possible, avoiding editing our photos and minimising filters and trying not to portray those unrealistic standards that people are faced with,” she said.

“Follow people who promote more body kindness, body acceptance.”

Ms Cox said the new year spike was also likely linked to delays in people seeking – or receiving – help during the busy festive period, when many clinics close, while some celebrations were challenging.

“Anecdotally, we do get people who do reach out in preparation for the holiday period, wanting some advice … on how to navigate some of those challenging times,” she said.

“Often catch-ups can be quite food centric, especially around Christmas time.”

She said loved ones’ could also unknowingly make “quite harmful” comments about both others, such as ‘complimenting’ weight loss or insisting someone eat more, and themselves.

“[A compliment] just reinforces that harmful societal perception that it’s all about what we look like,” she said.

“In some cultures, there can be a push to eat more, ‘have another helping, eat more’.”

Butterfly Foundation National Helpline Manager Sarah Cox says it’s a ‘challenging time’ for many amid the ‘real push around diet and exercise’ and new years’ resolutions. Picture: Supplied

She said how we talk about our own bodies and relationship with food in front of others was also influential.

“Comments we make about food and labelling foods as good or bad … there’s a lot of really powerful language,” she said.

She said we could support anyone struggling by asking them what support they find helpful, including non-food focused activities; avoiding comments about weight and eating and calling out harmful comments.

“Speaking up and saying ‘hey that’s actually not okay, let’s talk about something else.’ can be really powerful,’,” she said.

She said ‘body kindness’ encouraged us to question how we talk or think about ourselves, while acceptance recognised no body was perfect and focused on gratitude for what it does for us – whether that’s dancing, growing a child or simply keeping our heart beating.

“This can be different for different people,” she said.