International No Diet Day is an annual celebration of body acceptance, including fat acceptance and body shape diversity. This day is also dedicated to promoting a healthy life style with a focus on health at any size and in raising awareness of the potential dangers of dieting and the unlikelihood of success; the Institute of Medicine summarizes:

“Those who complete weight loss programs lose approximately 10 percent of their body weight only to regain two-thirds within a year and almost all of it within five years.” The first International No Diet Day was celebrated in the UK in 1992. Feminist groups in other countries around the globe have started to celebrate International No Diet Day, especially in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India, Israel, Denmark, Sweden and Brazil.

Since 1998 both the International Size Acceptance Association and the National Organisation for Women have sponsored similar days. ISAA’s day is the International Size Acceptance Day which is celebrated on 24th April. NOW organizes a Love Your Body campaign, with its own annual Love Your Body Day in the fall, which critiques what it defines as “fake Images” of the fashion, beauty and diet industries demanding that images of women with diverse body sizes and shapes are used instead. International No Diet Day is observed on May 6, and its symbol is a light blue ribbon.

Aims of the No Diet Day:

In celebrating International No Diet Day, participants aim to:

Question the idea of one “right” body shape.

Raise awareness of weight discrimination, size bias and fat phobia.

Declare a day free from diets and obsessions about body weight.

Present the facts about the diet industry, emphasizing the inefficacy of commercial diets.

Honor the victims of eating disorders and weight-loss surgery.

Help end weight discrimination, sizism and fat phobia.