This blog was written by Chelsea, our on-staff Holistic Nutritionist! Book sessions with Chelsea over on our registration site at https://reconline.yorkulions.ca/
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In case you haven’t heard, the Health at Every Size (HAES) movement is real and being talked about, very loudly by many, including dieticians, nutritionists, and other health professionals.
HAES is a holistic approach to health that advocates that health, physical or mental, cannot exist in a vacuum and cannot exist linearly, or even look the same for everyone. This approach promotes health as no-size-fits-all, and that health itself can exist within obesity, mental illness, and other physical and mental disabilities and limitations. This approach has health and wellness professionals wrapping their heads around a weight-neutral paradigm, which encourages the end of the use of the BMI as a measurement of health. No more weigh-ins at doctor check-ups and no more weight stigmas and fat-phobias in the name of “health” promotion.
But the question is, can health really exist at every size?
The short answer is ‘yes’, but the long answer is more ‘undetermined’.
As a Nutritionist, I can honestly tell you that the research is on the side of health existing at every size and that health knows no weight, measurement, or ability. However, the research also shows, for a very long time, that it is uninterested in the promotion and investigation of healthy individuals in bodies that are not conventionally seen as “healthy”.
This muddies the waters for hard-hitting research and steadfast conclusions that health exists at every size, simply because there is not enough definitive data to back this proposed design, compared to the copious amount of data that supports the idea that health is reliant on weight and size. However, a 2005 randomized clinical trial saw two groups of obese women – one group following a dieting approach, the other following the HAES method. This trial revealed that the group that followed the HAES approach saw improved health risk indicators for obese women, whereas the dieting approach saw no long-term behavior changes (Bacon, 2005). This trial also saw the women in the diet group losing motivation and “weakening” towards the restrictions of the diet, while the women in the HAES group did not have this experience (Bacon, 2005). Another study in 2007 revealed that the HAES approach increased body neutrality and positivity and lowered depressive behaviour and episodes. This is no small matter, as many individuals require medication to find relief in their mental health struggles (Robison, Putnam, & Mckibbin, 2007). This data demonstrates the genuine concern that has played time and time again – diets, restrictions, and “food rules” are not sustainable for weight loss and long-term health and wellness.
For a very long-time society has deemed thinness as a sign of good health. Conversely, thinness can also mean a sign of poor health (starvation, malnutrition, malabsorption, failure to thrive, mental health problems, drug abuse, etc.). Obesity, on the other hand, is seen as a sign of poor health, but dare I say, can also be seen as neutral health (overcome weight stigmas, good mental health, and intake of nutrient-dense foods).
We have been fed an image that if someone is overweight that they are lazy, unmotivated, unfit, and unhealthy. But if someone is thin, they are the divine image of health itself, and this is the most dangerous part of judging “health” from the outside without any information or diagnosis on what is going on internally.
The fact is: body diversity is a very real thing. Two people can follow the same diet for months and still have different bodies. One might have a slower metabolism. One might gain weight/lose weight from their belly vs. their thighs and glutes. One person might be able to eat more and weigh less, and another might eat less and weigh more… weight, size, and health is not an exact science. If it was, we would have it all figured out by now!
The HAES approach is still quite new and has received a lot of negative attention for “promoting obesity” when it is promoting weight-neutrality and health beyond weight and size. Additional research is needed in this area, but more and more studies are indicating that overall health and wellness (regardless of weight and size), is being negatively affected by diets and the HAES method is positively impacting overall health and wellness, including “eating-, weight- and psychological-related variables among women” (Begin, Carbonneau, & Gagnon-Girouard, 2018).
So, how do we achieve health at every size?
· Enjoy food.
· Listen to your body’s hunger cues and respect your body’s cues when you are full.
· Pay attention to your mental and emotional health, just as much as your physical health.
· Move your body. It doesn’t have to be Orange Theory or F45. It’s doesn’t have to be CrossFit or a spin class. It can be a walk, a run, a jog, cleaning your house, hiking, swimming. Find a movement that you enjoy, and you will want to engage with it.
· Pay attention to what foods make you feel good and what foods don’t make you feel good, instead of categorizing foods as “good” or “bad” ie. Salad vs. chocolate.
· Remember that it is not the size or shape of your body that equals good health, but the way you feel.
o Do you have good energy?
o Are you able to get out of bed in the morning, ready and excited to face the day (most days)?
o Can you eat foods without feeling guilty?
o Do you enjoy moving your body? Can you walk up a flight of stairs without losing your breath?
o Do you find it easy to focus? Or are you suffering from brain fog?
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Sources:
Bacon, L. (2005). Size Acceptance and Intuitive Eating Improve Health for Obese, Female Chronic Dieters. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, 105(6), 929–936. Retrieved from https://www.jandonline.org/article/S0002-8223(05)00322-6/fulltext
Begin, C., Carbonneau, E., & Gagnon-Girouard, M.-P. (2018). Eating-related and Psychological Outcomes of Health at Every Size Intervention in Health and Social Services Centers Across the Province of Quebec. American Journal of Health Promotion, 33(2), 248–258. Retrieved from https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0890117118786326
Gallant, J., & Lamb, M. (2022). Health at Every Size. Retrieved from https://obesitycanada.ca/snp/health-at-every-size-haes-whats-it-all-about/
Penney, T. L., & Kirk, S. F. L. (2015). The Health at Every Size Paradigm and Obesity : Missing Empirical Evidence May Help Push the Reframing Obesity Debate Forward. Framing Health Matters, 105(5), 38–42. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2015.302552
Robison, J., Putnam, K., & Mckibbin, L. (2007). Health at Every Size. AAOHN Journal, 55(5), 185–192. Retrieved from https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/216507990705500503
Stice, E. (2002). Role of body dissatisfaction in the onset and maintenance of eating pathology : A synthesis of research findings. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 53(5), 985–993. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0022399902004889?via%3Dihub