Health At Every Size
Consumer Conscious
Increasingly more individuals are trying to lose weight. Indeed, many women, regardless of their size, experience a life-long battle and preoccupation with their weight. Despite the attention to weight and the increase in diet behavior, the incidence of obesity continues to rise. There is little data to show improved long term success for the majority of participants who engage in weight loss behaviors.
The specific aim is to improve the psychological and metabolic health of obese women with a history of chronic dieting through encouraging "Health at Every Size" (HAES). This treatment model emphasizes "intutitive eating," i.e., internal regulation of eating (responding to cues of hunger, appetite and satiety). The HAES model is being compared to the current standard of care in obesity treatment, energy restriction dieting, which encourages cognitive control of eating and weight reduction.
The Council on Size and Weight Discrimination promotes Health At Every Size (HAES). The basic principles of this philosophy are:
- Total Health Enhancement and well-being, rather than weight loss or achieving a specific "ideal weight."
- Self-acceptance and respect for the diversity of bodies that come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes, rather than the pursuit of an idealized weight at all costs
- The pleasure of eating well, based on internal cues of hunger and satiety, rather than on external food plan or diets.
- The joy of movement, encouraging all physical activities rather than prescribing a specific routine of regimented exercise.
