In short, 1200 calories is not enough unless you are between the ages of 1-3 years. According to evidence (from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2020-2025), 1200 calories fits the caloric needs for a 1–3-year-old child (depending on gender) etc.
For a longer explanation, let me begin by saying diet culture has merely become a part of social media and exists through platforms that idealize weight loss and disordered eating. Often, these platforms may promote "diets" or sometimes even "lifestyles", look convincing, and do a great job of marketing what the public wants to hear.
Back in 2017, I graduated high school. That summer before my first year of college, I remember spending so much time trying to better myself after a tough senior year. I was super into Pinterest, Instagram, and other platforms with healthy eating and exercise recommendations. Thinking back, I continuously saw marketing for eating "low-carb" or "low-calorie", working to "get a better body", fasting to "save calories", etc. Although I was unaware of it at the time, these nutrition suggestions were (and remain) part of the reason I began changing my eating habits.
If you are interested in more information about my story and recovery process, please see the "About" tab on the top of the page.
After over a year of listening to diet culture (where I thought I was being strong-willed and productive), my body and brain began to starve. Dieting is often not sustainable simply because it does not provide enough calories, nutrition, nor energy. I was about 17-18 years old at the time, and looking back I probably required double the amount of calories.
With this being said, diet culture is mainly dangerous because it promotes the same recommendations to every single person. Likewise, it does not take individual's health status into condition. Excuse my language, but I often wonder: why in the hell do social media platforms continue to encourage weight loss and dieting (<1500 calories) to the general public when:
Recommendations of 1200 calories fits the the evidence-based caloric needs for a 1–3-year-old child (depending on gender) etc.
The general public on social media consists of teenagers and young adults who need significantly more calories than 1200 per day just to maintain organ function and life.
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