Thank you for writing this important post! I agree that understanding and addressing the causes of vegan dropout seems like a really important question.
I found it interesting that you mentioned social desirability bias as a factor for people under-reporting health reasons. Intuitively, I would have guessed that social desirability bias is more likely to lead to over-reporting. Health reasons seems like a more socially acceptable reason to abandon veganism compared to say, weakness of will, or value drift leading one to care less about non-human animals. While the latter reasons place ‘blame’ for ones recidivism in one’s character, health reasons rather put ‘blame’ on the diet itself. This would also explain why celebrities, who are under more public scrutiny, seem to report more health-related reasons than anonymous survey takes. But even if I suspect that health reasons may be over-reported, I still agree with your general point that these health related challenges are a real problem, which we should try to address.
One step in this direction may be to not only emphasize the importance of eating a healthy vegan diet and taking supplements, but also to give easy strategies for doing so. To use a personal example, I recently found a very easy intervention which has greatly helped me remember my daily supplements. Merely by adding it to my daily Thought Saver routine, I have gone from taking supplements <50% to >98% on a daily basis. I suspect that similar, easy to implement interventions, like adding a postit with a reminder to your bathroom mirror, or putting it in a phone alarm, can have a similar effect.
Strongly agree with Martin on the likely direction of SDB, for the reasons stated. Included within SDB of course (and probably making up most of it) is people “lying to themselves”.
I also really like the original post and agree with the general sentiment. People can genuinely encounter health problems that they would not have on an omnivorous diet. It should be taken very seriously. Honest information and understanding is important.
From personal experience, a proper transition was not a problem for health as I was super-conscious of getting everything I needed. The minor health problems I have had, that could potentially claim veganism as a cause, have come from slacking off.
Regarding this potential, I think another problem is that imperfect health and deficiencies are common, and it is easy and convenient to attribute veganism as a cause. For someone on an omnivorous diet, the cause is attributed to something more specific, or cause attribution is ignored—they are just “naturally” deficient and should take certain supplements/drugs.
Taking myself as an example.
I’m often tired. Is it because I drink way too much coffee, have poor sleep, or am I iron deficient? I’ve never been the most energetic person, so maybe it is my imagination too. Or it might be mental health related.
I’ve been getting a lot of pain around my knees lately. Is that poor running or squat technique, or could it be a lack of Omega 3?
For both of the above, maybe I am just ageing? (this could be significant because it happens to everyone).
Thank you for the comment! Your argument about social desirability bias changed my mind. I hadn’t considered it, but you’re definitely right to point out that health issues are a more socially acceptable excuse for no longer committing to an ethical cause compared to taste or convenience.
I also agree with you that we need strategies to make it easier for people to not mess up. On an individual level, getting people to track their vitamin intake and to track nutrients with Chronometer is good advice, though I’m not sure how scalable it is. On a societal level, we would probably need to legally mandate B12 enriched rice or bread in the same way we do that with iodine in salt. I think another thing that would help would be to normalize vegetarian proteins like tofu, lentils, and beans in Western countries.This way people don’t have to make as much of a diet switch when they stop eating meat.
Thank you for writing this important post! I agree that understanding and addressing the causes of vegan dropout seems like a really important question.
I found it interesting that you mentioned social desirability bias as a factor for people under-reporting health reasons. Intuitively, I would have guessed that social desirability bias is more likely to lead to over-reporting. Health reasons seems like a more socially acceptable reason to abandon veganism compared to say, weakness of will, or value drift leading one to care less about non-human animals. While the latter reasons place ‘blame’ for ones recidivism in one’s character, health reasons rather put ‘blame’ on the diet itself. This would also explain why celebrities, who are under more public scrutiny, seem to report more health-related reasons than anonymous survey takes. But even if I suspect that health reasons may be over-reported, I still agree with your general point that these health related challenges are a real problem, which we should try to address.
One step in this direction may be to not only emphasize the importance of eating a healthy vegan diet and taking supplements, but also to give easy strategies for doing so. To use a personal example, I recently found a very easy intervention which has greatly helped me remember my daily supplements. Merely by adding it to my daily Thought Saver routine, I have gone from taking supplements <50% to >98% on a daily basis. I suspect that similar, easy to implement interventions, like adding a postit with a reminder to your bathroom mirror, or putting it in a phone alarm, can have a similar effect.
Strongly agree with Martin on the likely direction of SDB, for the reasons stated. Included within SDB of course (and probably making up most of it) is people “lying to themselves”.
I also really like the original post and agree with the general sentiment. People can genuinely encounter health problems that they would not have on an omnivorous diet. It should be taken very seriously. Honest information and understanding is important.
From personal experience, a proper transition was not a problem for health as I was super-conscious of getting everything I needed. The minor health problems I have had, that could potentially claim veganism as a cause, have come from slacking off.
Regarding this potential, I think another problem is that imperfect health and deficiencies are common, and it is easy and convenient to attribute veganism as a cause. For someone on an omnivorous diet, the cause is attributed to something more specific, or cause attribution is ignored—they are just “naturally” deficient and should take certain supplements/drugs.
Taking myself as an example.
I’m often tired. Is it because I drink way too much coffee, have poor sleep, or am I iron deficient? I’ve never been the most energetic person, so maybe it is my imagination too. Or it might be mental health related.
I’ve been getting a lot of pain around my knees lately. Is that poor running or squat technique, or could it be a lack of Omega 3?
For both of the above, maybe I am just ageing? (this could be significant because it happens to everyone).
Thank you for the comment! Your argument about social desirability bias changed my mind. I hadn’t considered it, but you’re definitely right to point out that health issues are a more socially acceptable excuse for no longer committing to an ethical cause compared to taste or convenience.
I also agree with you that we need strategies to make it easier for people to not mess up. On an individual level, getting people to track their vitamin intake and to track nutrients with Chronometer is good advice, though I’m not sure how scalable it is. On a societal level, we would probably need to legally mandate B12 enriched rice or bread in the same way we do that with iodine in salt. I think another thing that would help would be to normalize vegetarian proteins like tofu, lentils, and beans in Western countries.This way people don’t have to make as much of a diet switch when they stop eating meat.