Health at Every Size

Now this is interesting.

I have long felt that improved nutritional balance and more activity is just as valid as weight loss for most people. As little as 5-10% reductions are of proven medical benefit for diabetes and heart disease.

I also firmly believe that helping people move away from yo-yo dieting would be a huge benefit to both mental and physical health. A stable BMI that's higher than average is far preferable to one that drops and rises haphazardly.

The Health at Every Size (HAES) approach holds that weight loss is often actually a destructive aim which promotes dieting behaviour, body image problems and frank eating disorders.

A cursory look through any women's magazine or a google search with 'diet' or 'weight' anywhere in it lends credence to this. The fact that dieting doesn't work is the backbone of the diet industry. How many people attending WeightWatchers or Unislim are back for the second third or fourth time? How many people 'doing' Atkins or South Beach have tried countless other plans or programmes only to regain the pounds within a year? And the guilt......how productive is that?

Let's stop the madness, people!
Food is food;
dieting is trouble for your body and your mind....
but eating well is good for your soul- whatever size you are.