Let's Talk About HAES!

Maybe you’ve heard the words Health at Every Size (HAES) thrown around, but didn’t really understand what it meant. For many, the phrase could be scary, and seem impossible. How can health occur at any size? Especially if you’re in the medical field, you know that the majority of diseases discussed are in relation to lifestyle, and we are constantly told that the world is currently in an “obesity epidemic”, or that being fat increases risk for XYZ disease…

HAES is defined by three basic components: Respect, Critical Awareness, and Compassionate Self-Care. Respect includes respect of body diversity, as well as all other forms of human diversity (such as gender, sexual orientation, race, religion). Critical Awareness challenges the assumption that certain body sizes are innately better or healthier than others, and values body knowledge. Compassionate self-care involves finding joy in moving one’s body not only for the purpose of burning calories but rather due to the benefits of being active and for personal enjoyment. It is also eating in a way that honors hunger, fullness, and satiety which honors pleasure from eating as well as physical need.

“The myth that obesity kills gives permission to call our fear of fat a health concern, rather than what it is, cultural oppression against larger bodies” (Health at Every Size by Linda Bacon, PhD). Consistently being told that thin bodies are good and large bodies are bad has made us fear gaining weight, because we are afraid we will be judged or less attractive or whatever the hell else biases come with weight stigma. Weight bias is real, and we are living in a world where being thin offers privilege, similar to the way that being white offers privilege, or being male. Fat people are less likely to be considered for jobs, viewed as lazy, unhealthy, unattractive, etc when in reality bodies come in all shapes and sizes, can be healthy and should be celebrated. Health at Every Size (HAES) is a movement promoting that any body can be healthy, and emphasizes the need to stop demonizing larger bodies. Fatness should be respected similarly to the diversity of skin color or sexual preference. It is another form of diversity, ways that we are different from one another and are unique. Same as how you would not judge someone based on their skin color or religion, we should not judge someone based on the size of their body.

HAES is aligned to Intuitive Eating (IE) because both respect hunger, fullness, and internal body cues, and do not encourage weight loss. The cultural emphasis on being thin has fueled an epidemic of diet culture and disordered eating. What is more unhealthy than being fat? Constantly stressing about weight and analyzing every decision on what to eat.

At Nutrition Empowered, our dietitians are HAES aligned and support that bodies can be any shape, size, color that feels good. The notion that some weight is better than others is not apart of our practice. We want to help those who are sick of constantly chasing a smaller body.