Are lazy ‘girl dinners’ safe? Nutritionists weigh in on the ‘problematic’ new food trend
‘GIRL dinners’ are garnering a lot of attention on social media – but what are they, and are they safe?
Experts have weighed in on the trend, which many women have claimed to be a core part of their diet.
A ‘girl dinner’ is defined in various ways by different women, but, in a nutshell, it describes a plate compiled of random scraps from your cupboard or fridge, or leftovers.
It doesn’t have much thought to it, nor cooking or preparation.
Some women have said the desire for girl dinner comes from wanting a night off from cooking for their partner, or from sticking to a rigid meal plan.
Phoebe Lielbing, a Harley Street London Nutritional Therapist and Clinical Director, says people may have always eaten this way but just never had much of a name for it.
She told The Sun: “As children, my sister and I would ask for what we referred to as buffet or picky plates for dinner on a Sunday evening.
“It would consist of a piece of toast or a few crackers, cheese, tzatziki or hummus, olives, leftover roast chicken or fish, etc.
“We absolutely loved the array of colours, textures and flavours, it was an easy meal for our parents to put together, it exposed us to lots of different things, used up leftovers, and as we got older, we started to learn how to put a balanced plate together intuitively.
“And in essence, this is where the basis of girl dinner started – a simple mezze style combination of things you have at home, that don’t require cooking, combine elements you enjoy, and often will use up lots of bits and pieces that don’t quite make a full serving of anything on their own.”
The girl dinner trend started with a dish similar to that which Phoebe described, posted by Olivia Maher on TikTok.
The 28-year-old content creator, from Los Angeles, showed her plate of bread, butter, grapes, cheese, gherkins, and wine and said: “I call this girl dinner”, Women’s Health reported.
The term blew up on the social media platform, with 1.2billion views and a filter which picks your girl dinner.
Millions of women shared the dinners they ate when they didn’t have the energy to cook, which involved cereal, nachos, cheese and crackers, bread and butter, and so on.
Disordered eating
While it seems pretty harmless, the trend may have taken a dark turn.
As TikToker Halley Kate said in a video with more than four million likes: “[It] slowly got overtaken by the wrong side of TiKTok and it’s just like these girls being like, ‘Omg one cube of cheese, girl dinner!’.
“It’s like no, let’s not glorify that, because I think that’s something else.
“I just wanna watch the girls piece together their fun little meals, I don’t need you to tell me how little you ate on TikTok.”
Halley is referring to eating disorders and women showing off how little they are happy to eat for dinner.
Nutritionist Charlotte Hunter, based in Surrey, said: “The notion of ‘girl dinners’ leaves me in a state of utter confusion.
“Does anyone recall the baby food diet trend? A gimmicky approach to shedding calories by substituting one or two meals a day with those tiny jars of baby food.
“It’s astonishing how both these fads share a fundamental flaw: not enough food!”
Charlotte added: “What concerns me most is the clear emphasis on aesthetics, garnering likes, and amassing followers that these meals aim to achieve.
“Our social media feeds overflow with trends that may not necessarily cater to our well-being but pander to our desire for popularity and attention.
“Sure, a dainty plate might exert some control over our portion sizes, but is it genuinely sufficient to satisfy and sustain our bodies?
“There’s also the possibility that such tiny meals may lead to overeating and snacking due to hunger as you ride the blood sugar rollercoaster of energy and sugar highs and lows.”
Phoebe agreed that while the videos may show a small spread or plate, it could lead to snacking later or even binge eating.
“It may be that that person starts with the small plate they show but then associate this with deprivation so will return back and consume multiple servings,” she added.
“It could equate to more than if they had sat down and made a proper meal.”
Unbalanced meal
Both experts said one of the key issues of girl dinner is it’s not balanced.
Charlotte said although there is an element of fun to the trend, it “could lead to nutritional deficiencies”.
“Even if meticulously engineered, these ‘girl dinners’ falter when it comes to furnishing our bodies with the ideal proportions of protein, fat, fibre, carbohydrates, and the full spectrum of vitamins and minerals,” she added.
Phoebe said: “If you just have cheese and crackers, you’ve combined fat with carbs but forgotten about protein and fibre.
“Or if you have crudités and dip, maybe also with wine, you’ve gone to town on fibre with fat but again no protein and this time no sustaining carbohydrates.”
Many women use “girl dinner” interchangeably with “lazy dinner“, whereby a simple meal is prepared but still may be nutritionally beneficial.
The verdict
Girl dinner is clearly, to many, a form of comfort or ease.
Its roots were a version of a cheese board or Ploughman’s, but it appears people have varying perceptions of what ‘girl dinner’ is to them.
Phoebe said: “My opinion would be this – girl dinner as a premise is totally fine, eating what you fancy if well balanced is totally normal and healthful.
“But when it becomes a competition for how little a person can put on their plate, well then it becomes a problem.”