Healthism online: ‘What I eat in a day’ vlogs before and during COVID-19 restrictions

Objective and setting: The COVID-19 pandemic and its restrictions coincide with an increase in body weight and changes in health-related habits worldwide. This study focusses on the way health-related habits are portrayed online in digital food cultures. The study aims to investigate if and how the content of high-profile Dutch ‘What I eat in a day’ vlogs has changed during the first period of COVID-19 restrictions. We approach changes in digital food culture through the concept of ‘healthism’ and see vloggers as cultural intermediaries. Design and participants: We collected the most watched vlogs of almost all high-profile Dutch influencers pre-post corona and analyzed these in a mixed method approach by using summative and thematic content analysis. Results: Pre-COVID vlogs highlight an explicit consciousness of energy balance-related behavior, focusing on calorie counting, avoidance of unhealthy food and the use of tracking apps. In vlogs uploaded in 2020, these themes are less present. Instead, intuitive eating and listening to one’s body are more central themes within the vlogs. Conclusions: We consider the shift towards intuitive eating as another variant of “wellness diets” rather than a shift away from dieting, furthered by COVID-19 restrictions. The core values of health and self-regulation are upheld within the shift towards intuitive eating. Yet, we nuance the broad claims of healthism in biopolitics and point to relevant cultural changes within foodscapes.