This week is National Eating Disorders Awareness Week, and in an effort to reduce stigma and challenge common misconceptions about these dangerous illnesses, theSkimm (a media company that distills current events in a daily, readable newsletter to over 7 million subscribers), has been sharing some excellent educational content via their social media accounts and emails.

However, despite this necessary step forward, theSkimm continues to advertise the diet company Noom, which is notorious for using harmful, deceptive marketing tactics and for promoting downright dangerous disordered eating behaviors.  

Here is a summary of the main issues with Noom:

• They promote disordered eating behaviors such as obsessive calorie counting, extreme restriction, daily weigh-ins, etc.
• They provide daily calorie allotments that are equivalent to what would be recommended for toddlers
• They misrepresent their program as “anti-diet,” “intuitive eating,” “mindful eating,” etc. when it is, in fact, none of those things. This is extremely dangerous to those suffering from eating disorders or disordered eating, as they may mistakenly believe that Noom is compatible with recovery
• They recommend extremely low calorie counts for women who are breast feeding
• Their “coaches” aren’t required to be registered dietitians
• They twist or use statistics out of context to back up their false claims

Please sign this petition calling for theSkimm to recognize their own hypocrisy and immediately terminate their agreement with Noom.