Notes on a Nervous Planet

by Matt Haig

Professor Pamela Keel of Florida State University has spent her career studying eating disorders and issues around female and male body image, and concludes that changing the way you look is never going to solve unhappiness about your looks. “What is really going to make you happier and healthier?” she wondered at the start of 2018, presenting her latest research findings. “Losing ten pounds or losing harmful attitudes about your body?” And when people feel less pressure about how their bodies look, it’s not just minds that benefit, but bodies, too. “When people feel good about their bodies, they are more likely to take better care of themselves rather than treating their bodies like an enemy, or even worse, an object. That’s a powerful reason to rethink the kind of New Year’s resolutions we make.”