Health at Every Size
Encyclopedia
Health at Every Size is an approach to health that focuses on intuitive eating
and pleasurable physical activity rather than dieting
and weight loss
.
A cohort of academics outside the medical community, while still acknowledging obesity as a factor in illness and premature death, challenge the severity of the health crisis associated with obesity.
) range, generally through dieting, is not a desirable or realistic goal for individuals wishing to improve their health. Such research provides supporting evidence for the use of lifestyle changes to achieve health improvements:
as an alternative to weight-loss dieting.
Intuitive eating
Intuitive eating is a nutrition philosophy based on the premise that becoming more attuned to the body's natural hunger signals is a more effective way to attain a healthy weight, rather than keeping track of the amounts of energy and fats in foods. It's a process that is intended to create a...
and pleasurable physical activity rather than dieting
Dieting
Dieting is the practice of eating food in a regulated fashion to achieve or maintain a controlled weight. In most cases dieting is used in combination with physical exercise to lose weight in those who are overweight or obese. Some athletes, however, follow a diet to gain weight...
and weight loss
Weight loss
Weight loss, in the context of medicine, health or physical fitness, is a reduction of the total body mass, due to a mean loss of fluid, body fat or adipose tissue and/or lean mass, namely bone mineral deposits, muscle, tendon and other connective tissue...
.
Overview
The major components of HAES, as described by Jon Robison, are:- Self-Acceptance: Affirmation and reinforcement of human beauty and worth irrespective of differences in weight, physical size and shape.
- Physical Activity: Support for increasing social, pleasure-based movement for enjoyment and enhanced quality of life.
- Normalized Eating: Support for discarding externally-imposed rules and regimens for eating and attaining a more peaceful relationship with food by relearning to eat in response to physiological hunger and fullness cues.
A cohort of academics outside the medical community, while still acknowledging obesity as a factor in illness and premature death, challenge the severity of the health crisis associated with obesity.
Research
The reasoning of Health at Every Size proponents is based on research data suggesting that explicitly trying to achieve a weight in the standard recommended weight (or BMIBody mass index
The body mass index , or Quetelet index, is a heuristic proxy for human body fat based on an individual's weight and height. BMI does not actually measure the percentage of body fat. It was invented between 1830 and 1850 by the Belgian polymath Adolphe Quetelet during the course of developing...
) range, generally through dieting, is not a desirable or realistic goal for individuals wishing to improve their health. Such research provides supporting evidence for the use of lifestyle changes to achieve health improvements:
- A study conducted at the University of California, DavisUniversity of California, DavisThe University of California, Davis is a public teaching and research university established in 1905 and located in Davis, California, USA. Spanning over , the campus is the largest within the University of California system and third largest by enrollment...
found that white, obese, female chronic dieters aged 30–45 were more likely to maintain long-term behavior change and health improvements after participating in a HAES program as compared to a control group that participated in a traditional diet program. - Two studies show exercise can improve health indicators for people of all sizes. Exercise does not necessarily result in major weight loss for obese women with an ad lib diet when compared to women with less adipose tissue.
HAES and the Fat Acceptance Movement
HAES is promoted within the fat acceptance movementFat acceptance movement
The fat acceptance movement is an effort to change societal attitudes towards fat, obese, and overweight people.- Background :...
as an alternative to weight-loss dieting.
Further reading
- Campos, P. (2004). The Obesity Myth: Why America's Obsession with Weight is Hazardous to Your Health. New York: Gotham Books.
- Campos, Paul, Abigail Saguy, Paul Ernsberger, Eric Oliver, and Glen Gaesser. 2006. “The Epidemiology of Overweight and Obesity: Public Health Crisis or Moral Panic?” International Journal of Epidemiology. 35:1. pp. 55–60.
- Ernsberger, P. & Haskew, P. (1987). Health implications of obesity: An alternative view. Journal of Obesity and Weight Regulation, 6, 55-137.
- Garner, D. M., & Wooley, S. C. (1991). Confronting the failure of behavioral and dietary treatments for obesity. Clinical Psychology Review, 11, 729-780.
- Saguy, Abigail C. and Kevin W. Riley. 2005. “Weighing Both Sides: Morality, Mortality and Framing Contests over Obesity.” Journal of Health Politics, Policy, and Law. 30:5, pp. 869–921.http://www.soc.ucla.edu/faculty/saguy/weighing.pdf
- Steven, MD and Linda Konner. 1997. Just the weigh you are: how to be fit and healthy whatever your size.