Please note: At Change Creates Change, we do not describe foods as ‘good,’ ‘bad,’ ‘healthy,’ or ‘unhealthy.’ However, we will refer to these words for the purpose of this blog post.
Alongside harmful TikTok trends like Body Checking and “What I Eat in a Day” vlogs, the term “Almond Mom” has been circling social media in recent months. This term gained popularity after a video of Yolanda Hadid, a former model and star on the reality show, Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, surfaced.
Almond Mom Video
In the video, Gigi Hadid – her daughter, calls her saying she felt very weak and unwell, and Yolanda responds with “have a couple of almonds and chew them really well” 1. Many people were upset by this response by Yolanda, as it seemed to encourage her daughter to undereat. Hence, the terms “almond mom” and “almond mom diet” were born.
Almond Mom Meaning
The almond mom parenting style is one centered around harmful eating advice deeply rooted in 20th-century diet culture 1. The almond mom definition is a mom who projects her own disordered eating habits onto her children and often participates in orthorexic behaviours disguised as health, wellness, and discipline 2. This may include restrictive diets, only eating “clean” and “healthy” foods, and can lead to eating disorders such as anorexia, bulimia, or orthorexia 2.
Why is the Almond Mom Harmful?
While the almond mom may have good intentions, saying phrases like “Are you sure you’re hungry, and not just bored?” carries heavy and lasting implications that can take a lifetime to undo 2. The voice of the almond mom becomes their child’s internal voice and may continue the traumatic cycle 2. It is hypothesized that mothers may impact their child’s eating disorder by modeling eating behaviors and thoughts, not setting appropriate relationship boundaries, or by genetically predisposing their child to an eating disorder 3.
Chelsea Fielder-Jenks, M.A., LPC wrote an article identifying the following biological, psychological, and social risk factors that may be correlated with eating disorders 3.
- Mothers act as models for their children’s thoughts and behaviors
- Mothers who talk more frequently about their own weight, shape, or size are more likely to have daughters with lower self-worth and greater feelings of depression
- Mothers with disordered eating behaviors are more likely to be critical of their daughters’ weight and appearance
- Mothers who make more frequent comments about weight are more likely to have daughters who use extreme weight control behaviors
- Daughters of mothers who report feeling a lack of control over their daughter’s activities are more likely to experience body dissatisfaction and engage in restrictive eating behaviors
- The parents, children, and siblings of individuals with anorexia are more likely to have anorexia themselves and have some disordered eating behaviors. This is likely due to both genetics and the modeling of disordered eating behaviors
How to Not Be an Almond Mom
The “almond mom” trend has prompted discussion on social media on ways to avoid harmful diet culture conversations or behaviours. Many parents are sharing how they combat toxic beauty standards by demonstrating body positive conversations with their children. A couple of ways you can avoid “almond mom” behaviour is by:
- Not mentioning weight, clothing size, or food portions to your child 2
- Modeling body positivity in your own life and refraining from making any harsh criticisms of yourself or others 2
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