Salvation and sweet rolls

Religious diet books highlight the overlap between religious and diet cultures. This article examines the intersection of Mormonism, diet culture, and fatphobia through an analysis of Mormon diet books published between 1990 and 2015. The study explores how Mormon diet books leverage the Word of Wisdom (the LDS health code) to promote weight loss and reinforce religious obedience. By framing dietary compliance as a spiritual mandate, these texts link physical health and body size to moral and spiritual worthiness. This conflation of body and spirit, rooted in Mormon theology, amplifies fatphobia by promoting thinness as a sign of obedience and spiritual strength. The article employs content analysis to identify themes of obedience and missionary work within these diet books. It argues that while these books purport to offer health guidance, they ultimately propagate a problematic narrative that equates thinness with spiritual success and moral superiority. The study highlights the broader implications of such narratives, emphasizing how they contribute to fatphobia and impact individual and community perceptions of body size and health within Mormon culture

Sociology · American History and Culture · Culinary Culture and Tourism · Gender Studies · History · Mormonism, Religion, and History · Psychology · Social Psychology

• “Healthy” food and the production of differentiated bodies in “anti-obesity” discourses and practices

  M Durocher•Fat Studies•2021

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• Introduction to the special issue

  Nina Mackert, Friedrich Schorb•Fat Studies•2022

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• The Christian Dieter’s Dilemma

  Lynne Gerber•Fat Studies•2015

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• Guilt-Free and Sinfully Delicious

  Emily J H Contois•Fat Studies•2015

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• Against progress

  Rachel Fox•Fat Studies•2018

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• Religion and Fat = Protestant Christianity and Weight Loss? On the Intersections of Fat Studies and Religious Studies

  Lynne Gerber, Susan Hill et al.•Fat Studies•2015

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• Health(ism) at every size

  Open Access•G Gibson•Fat Studies•2022

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• Pounds Off for Jesus

  Jonathan Root•Fat Studies•2015

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• Fitness, fatness and healthism discourse

  Sheryl Clark, Sheryl Laura Clark•Gender and Education•2016

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• Ezekiel, Daniel, and Christian Diet Culture

  Open Access•Stacy Davis, Stacy N Davis•Religions•2022

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