If you examine the data with an open mind, you can also find some other facts that may surprise you. Did you know that the obesity epidemic—if there ever was such a thing—is long over: child, teen, and adult obesity rates leveled off years ago? That dozens of studies indicate that weight doesn’t adversely affect longevity for the vast majority of people—and less than a handful of studies suggest otherwise? And when factors such as activity, nutrition, dieting and weight cycling history, and socioeconomic status are considered, the relationship between weight and disease disappears or is significantly reduced? Studies also show that biologic safeguards prevent most people from maintaining weight loss, despite vigilant dieting and exercise.
Get on board with the new paradigm that shifts the emphasis from weight to health. It’s called Health at Every Size. More information can be found in
Health at Every Size: The Surprising Truth About Your Weight
(
www.HAESbook.com
).
Excerpt from
Health at Every Size: The Surprising Truth
About Your Weight
© 2010 by Linda Bacon.
May be freely distributed, provided that it remains in its entirety
and this copyright message appears. More info at
www.HAESbook.com
.
A MESSAGE FOR JOURNALISTS/ WRITERS/PEOPLE IN THE MEDIA ON COVERING WEIGHT CONCERNS
A growing number of scientists, health professionals, civil rights advocates, educators, and other concerned people are challenging conventional ideas about weight. We argue that many currently accepted ideas are unsupported by scientific evidence and have resulted in significant damage to people of all body sizes.
Assumptions that support the current weight paradigm are so strongly part of our cultural landscape that they are not even recognized, with the result that fairness and accuracy in reporting get compromised. For example, did you know that the “obesity epidemic”—if there ever was one—is long over: child, teen and adult obesity rates leveled off years ago? That dozens of studies indicate that weight doesn’t adversely affect longevity for the vast majority of people—and less than a handful of studies suggest otherwise? And when factors such as activity, nutrition, dieting and weight cycling history, and socioeconomic status are considered, the relationship between weight and disease disappears or is greatly lessened? Studies also show that biologic safeguards prevent most people from maintaining weight loss, despite vigilant dieting and exercise.
Despite ample evidence published in top scientific journals, these contentions are rarely given credence or fair exposure in the media. If we are to truly provide accurate information and improve the health of the American people, it is time to challenge status quo belief systems about weight and health.
To be fair-minded, consider the following points when reporting stories on weight:
• Recognize that just because something is conventionally accepted doesn’t mean it’s true. Journalists have an obligation
Excerpt from
Health at Every Size: The Surprising Truth
About Your Weight
© 2010 by Linda Bacon.
May be freely distributed, provided that it remains in its entirety
and this copyright message appears. More info at
www.HAESbook.com
.
to remain open-minded and give air time to perspectives that aren’t typically heard.
• Listen to and report on what fat people have to say—and keep an open mind. Don’t make assumptions about their health practices and don’t limit your story to “experts” describing the experiences of fat people. “Nothing about us without us” is a rallying call of many stigmatized groups.
• Stage fair fights. If you interview a health expert talking about the dangers of obesity, pair her or him with a health expert who can dispute the conventional view of weight and health. Paring a conventional obesity “expert” with a fat person talking about their experience is an unfair setup.
• Show images of fat people being physically active, eating nutritious foods, and participating in their lives, rather than the usual photos that reinforce the stereotypes. Depict fat people as complete human beings. The typical stock photo of the “headless fatty” is dehumanizing. It sends a message that this body is so shameful that it doesn’t deserve a face.
• Language has meaning. Think about terms like “obesity,” “overweight” and “fat” and what they convey. Discover why a growing number of health professionals don’t use the terms “overweight” or “obesity.”
• When you report on weight loss, be sure to consider long-term evidence. Many techniques deliver short-term, but those results can be deceptive when the long term is considered.
• Cover stories about people doing work to help people of all sizes improve their health without a focus on weight or weight loss.
• Remember that the proliferation of stories about the evils of fat and other misinformation can contribute to an increase in unhealthy weight loss behaviors, painful food and weight preoccupation, damaging cycles of weight loss and regain,
Excerpt from
Health at Every Size: The Surprising Truth
About Your Weight
© 2010 by Linda Bacon.
May be freely distributed, provided that it remains in its entirety
and this copyright message appears. More info at
www.HAESbook.com
.
poor body image, life-threatening eating disorders, stress, stigmatization, and discrimination. Don’t be part of the problem.
The media hold considerable power. Use yours respectfully.
Excerpt from
Health at Every Size: The Surprising Truth
About Your Weight
© 2010 by Linda Bacon.
May be freely distributed, provided that it remains in its entirety
and this copyright message appears. More info at
www.HAESbook.com
.
A MESSAGE FOR THERAPISTS ON COMPASSIONATE THERAPY FOR WEIGHT CONCERNS
We are all raised with assumptions that fat is bad, that the pursuit of weight loss is positive self-care, and that body weight can be controlled through dietary change and exercise. These assumptions are so strongly a part of our cultural landscape that they are regarded as self-evident. As a result, many well-intentioned, caring people unknowingly collude and transmit these and other cultural biases regarding weight. A review of the science shows, however, that these ideas are social constructs that stand in the way of healthy development.
As therapists, it is important for us to look deeply at our biases and the ways they may show up in our work with clients. Taking the steps to identify your own implicit assumptions about body size, eating behaviors, and health will minimize the potential of your beliefs negatively influencing the way you work with those who come to you for help. The Health at Every Size (HAES) movement can help you develop a framework for conceptualizing weight and working with weight concerns. I encourage you to educate yourself about HAES.
Here are some suggestions on how to conceptualize and work with three common scenarios from a HAES perspective.
1. Clients on diets.
When clients announce they have just started a diet, you may feel tempted to view this as positive self-care and want to support their plan. Diets are seductive in their ability to make people believe that following a prescribed structure can bring about a feeling of “doing something.” However, following the rules of an outside authority
Excerpt from
Health at Every Size: The Surprising Truth
About Your Weight
© 2010 by Linda Bacon.
May be freely distributed, provided that it remains in its entirety
and this copyright message appears. More info at
www.HAESbook.com
.
undermines dieters’ ability to trust their own capacity to meet their own needs. It also sets them up for feelings of failure and inadequacy. Sound science shows that biology often underlies the inability to sustain weight loss, even when that weight loss results from positive behavior change.
People who say they want to lose weight are speaking in code. It is up to you to help your clients identify what they are really looking for. Is it happiness, respect, health, feeling attractive? You can help your clients refocus their awareness on what they are really looking for and affirm their right to live in the world no matter what their size or shape.
If a client believes weight is the problem, then weight loss becomes the only solution. But if you reassure your client that his or her body is acceptable just as it is, your client can begin to pull their energy away from weight loss towards self-care behaviors that honor who they really are.
2. Clients who lose weight.
When clients share their success at weight loss, it is natural to want to celebrate with them. Doing so, however, affirms that thinner is “better.” It also reinforces bad feelings if (when) the weight returns. Instead, help your clients re-frame their achievement as a positive behavior change and self-nurturance. They can hold on to that regardless of their weight outcome.
3. Fat vs. Thin Clients.
Behaviors such as counting calories (or carbs or fat grams), using exercise to burn calories, exercising several times a day, etc., are suspicious when they come from an “underweight” client, raising a red flag for eating disorders. But larger clients who talk about these same behaviors are often applauded. Help your clients see that it’s not how big or small they are, but how they nourish themselves that is important.
Excerpt from
Health at Every Size: The Surprising Truth
About Your Weight
© 2010 by Linda Bacon.
May be freely distributed, provided that it remains in its entirety
and this copyright message appears. More info at
www.HAESbook.com
.
For more information about Health at Every Size:
• Check out
Health at Every Size: The Surprising Truth About Your Weight
(
www.HAESbook.com
).
• Visit the (free) HAES Community Resources (
www.HAESCommunity.org
) to register your voice, inform others about your work, and learn about other HAES-sensitive individuals and resources.
Excerpt from
Health at Every Size: The Surprising Truth
About Your Weight
© 2010 by Linda Bacon.
May be freely distributed, provided that it remains in its entirety
and this copyright message appears. More info at
www.HAESbook.com
.
A MESSAGE FOR PEOPLE WHO HAVE LOST WEIGHT
So you’ve lost some weight and kept it off for a while. Perhaps you worked hard for your weight loss, enduring a restrictive diet or challenging exercise program. Or maybe you lost your weight by skipping one dessert at a time. Regardless, you must be feeling quite proud of yourself and enjoying the attention and praise from others.
Often, when people lose weight they want to tell everyone about their accomplishment. Maybe you feel like you’ve found the secret—and you want to share it with others. Plus, many of your friends and coworkers may be asking you for advice on how to do what you’ve done.
The problem with doing this is that there are many factors that influence weight and they are highly individual. While your strategy worked for you, it is unlikely it will work for someone else. Someone could eat exactly what you ate, exercise the same way and in the same amounts, and still end up with completely different results. In fact, odds are they will. After all, you are the statistical anomaly. Research shows that the vast majority of people who lose weight regain it—often with additional pounds.