#64: Health at Every Size: A Paradigm Shift Worth Considering
“…health exists on a continuum that varies with time and circumstance for each individual. Health should be conceived as a resource or capacity available to all regardless of health condition or ability level, and not as an outcome or objective of living” -Association for Size Diversity and Health Website
Health at Every Size is a set of principles that removes the emphasis weight loss and body size and redirects it to the pursuit and wellbeing.
What if instead of focusing on weight loss, we changed the goal to obtaining habits and behaviors that improve your quality of life?
In this episode, I will discuss with Health at Every Size is and what it isn’t and why I think it’s an important philosophy. HAES is more complex than I even understand or can explore in this one episode, but this will give you a primer on the basics and how you can apply it to your life.
The Health At Every Size® Principles are:
Weight Inclusivity: Accept and respect the inherent diversity of body shapes and sizes and reject the idealizing or pathologizing of specific weights.
Health Enhancement: Support health policies that improve and equalize access to information and services, and personal practices that improve human well-being, including attention to individual physical, economic, social, spiritual, emotional, and other needs.
Respectful Care: Acknowledge our biases, and work to end weight discrimination, weight stigma, and weight bias. Provide information and services from an understanding that socio-economic status, race, gender, sexual orientation, age, and other identities impact weight stigma, and support environments that address these inequities.
Eating for Well-being: Promote flexible, individualized eating based on hunger, satiety, nutritional needs, and pleasure, rather than any externally regulated eating plan focused on weight control.
Life-Enhancing Movement: Support physical activities that allow people of all sizes, abilities, and interests to engage in enjoyable movement, to the degree that they choose.
(These principles have been directly quoted from the Association for Size Diversity and Health Website and can be found here)
Further reading on HAES:
Website:
www.SizeDiversityandHealth.org
Books:
Health at Every Size by Linda Bacon
Call to Action —> Explore your beliefs, judgements and biases about weight and size for yourself and for others this week.
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