Fat Talk: Coming of age in diet culture

Virginia Sole-Smith's book "Fat Talk" explores how diet culture perpetuates a crisis of disordered eating and body hatred, exposing internalized fatphobia and advocating for supporting young people in their bodies.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 320 pages
Publication date: 25 April 2023
Publisher: Bonnier Books Ltd

"The International Bestseller"


"A brave and radical book"


- Rebecca Seal, The Observer
"Fearless and game-changing."
- Emily Oster
"Hard recommend."
- Pandora Sykes
"A must-read."
- Aubrey Gordon
"Essential."
- Laura Thomas, PhD
"Revolutionary!"
- Bethany Rutter
"Pivotal."
- Anita Bhagwandas
"Change the way you talk about food, weight, and self-worth, forever."


We live in a world designed to make us hate our bodies. By the time children start school, most have learned that fat is bad. As they get older, many pursue thinness to survive in a society that ties their value to their size. Parents worry both about the risks of their kids fixating on unrealistic beauty standards - and about them becoming fat. Meanwhile, multibillion-dollar industries thrive on our insecurities, and the medical system pushes weight loss at almost any cost.


Talking to researchers, doctors, and activists, as well as parents and young people, Virginia Sole-Smith lays bare how diet culture has perpetuated a crisis of disordered eating and body hatred. She exposes our internalized fatphobia and shows why we need to let go of shame and start supporting young people in the bodies they have.


Fat Talk is a stirring, deeply researched, and ground-breaking book that will transform the conversation about health and size.


Praise for Virginia Sole-Smith:
"Sole-Smith writes with warmth and insight about the sheer complexity of eating today."
- Bee Wilson, author of "First Bite: How We Learn to Eat"

Weight: 396g
Dimension: 234 x 156 x 27 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781804183106