In Depth with Prof. Bryn Austin: Harvard’s secret weapon fighting the diet industry

This podcast will be live on 3 January, 2024.

This month we’re talking to a distinguished social epidemiologist and behavioural scientist at the Harvard Chan School of Public Health. Her name is Professor Bryn Austin, and her research focuses on public health approaches to eating disorders.

Our conversation begins with an overview of the web that connects consumer culture, corporate exploitation, and the pervasive influence of diet culture on body image. “We’ve known for decades how harmful the consumer marketplace can be with diet culture, the diet industry, diet pills and supplements, and all the negative body image pressures that come through media, social media and advertising,” she says. “People have been writing about this for decades.”

The problem is we still need to more deeply understand–and do more to address—what corporations are doing to exploit diet culture for profit.

Don’t miss Professor Austin’s wise perspective. Not only does she share her thoughts on the complexities of the body image and eating disorders landscape, but she also discusses the transformative potential of strategic initiatives, including what her Harvard-based laboratory did to protect young Americans from predatory diet-industry profiteering.

Find out more about Professor Bryn Austin

read about Australia’s National Eating Disorders Strategy