Health at Every Size
The Health at Every Size movement has swept the planet in the past few years. In this article, I discuss my thoughts on the Health at Every Size movement.
What is Health at Every Size?
Health at Every Size is a social movement. It is part of the Fat Acceptance Movement and its goal is to help people strive for better health at any size.
The Health at Every Size movement encourages people to accept their weight and size and seek good health no matter their size.
What is Good about Health at Every Size
This movement has some good to it. In a culture where many people develop disordered eating patterns and hatred towards their bodies, this movement encourages people to eat and exercise for better health instead of weight loss.
People can begin to see healthy eating and exercise as a tool toward a better quality of life versus viewing exercise and diet as a punishment.
This new movement also encourages people to accept themselves and their weight without excessive self-criticism or trying to live up to harsh and narrow beauty standards.
What is Wrong with Health at Every Size/h2>
Despite having some positive aspects, there are some bad things about this movement.
First of all, the Health at Every Size movement tries to divorce body size from negative health outcomes as if a obesity has no consequence on health.
According to Health at Every Size, being overweight does not cause health problems.
Additionally, this movement believes research bias and discrimination against fat people may undermine the validity of obesity research.
This does not seem to be the case as an overwhelming amount of research lends support to the idea that obesity can have negative health consequences.
- Labored Breathing
- Sleep Apnea
- Heart Disease
- Cancer
- Obstructive Sleep Apnea
- Cataracts
- Stroke
- Fatty Liver Disease
- Gallbladder Disease
- Skin Fold Rashes
- Type 2 Diabetes
- Kidney Failure and Disease
- Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease
- Osteoarthritis and Joint Pain
- Polycystic Ovary Syndrome
- Hirsutism
- Infertility
- Increased Risk of Birth Defects
- Impaired Immune System
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Trouble Sleeping
- Fatigue
- Post Reactive Hyperglycemia
- Infection
- High Blood Pressure
- High Cholesterol
- Metabolic Syndrome
- Pancreatitis
- Gout
- Stress Incontinence
- Acid Reflux and GERD
- Venous Problems and Blood Clots
- Asthma
- Cardiovascular Disease
- Weak Muscles
Obesity has a causal, well-established relationship with many of these health conditions.
Additionally, losing just 5 to 10 percent of body weight can result in serious improvement in many of these conditions.
While some people naturally have a higher bone density, large skeletal structure or large amount of muscle mass that might predispose them to weigh more, many overweight people simply have too much body fat that can affect health in a negative way.
Health Effects of Underweight
Health at Every Size is not just wrong about obesity, however.
This movement fails to address the reality that being underweight can cause numerous other health conditions and even premature death.
While Health at Every Size claims that its the calorie restriction, not the low weight per say, that causes negative health outcomes, the truth is that these outcomes are intertwined.
Low calorie intake leads to low weight, and weight is usually restored when nutritional needs are met.
Yes, people range in terms of their sizes and weights to an extent, but being extremely underweight is not good for anyone.
Here are some of the health consequences of being underweight. Inadequate nutrition is the direct cause of many of these health problems.
- Malnutrition
- Hair Loss
- Anemia
- Electrolyte Imbalances
- Poor Immune System
- Illness
- Inability to Focus
- Poor Mood
- Social Withdrawal
- Surgical Complications
- Heart Rhythm Disturbances
- Amenorrhea
- Infertility
- Low Sex Drive
- Dry Skin
- Developmental Delays
- Osteoporosis
- Fatigue
- Sudden Death
- Heart Problems
- Growth of Fine Downy Hair
- Hepatitis
- Constipation
- Thyroid Problems
- High Cortisol Levels
- Hypoglycemia
- Diabetes
- Pneumonia
- Respiratory Failure
- Diabetes
- Easy Bruising
- Cold Intolerance
- Bloating
- Brain Atrophy
- Muscle Loss
- Organ Failure
- Death
Clearly, it is impossible to be healthy at every size. Just like being too fat poses direct health risks, being too thin can cause numerous serious health conditions as well.
While some individuals may have smaller frames and bone structures, few adults will be underweight without calorie restriction and poor eating habits.
Health at Every Size Research
The Health at Every Size movement remains skeptical of research on obesity and negative health outcomes associated with obesity.
The movement’s website even claims that scientific research is often partially tainted by researcher bias so obesity research cannot be trusted.
While research studies may be tainted by human error or bias, it is still preposterous to reject all the research on obesity and associated negative health outcomes.
While no research study is perfect, the current research still provides the most objective picture of the relationship between weight and health.
Like the groundbreaking studies about the relationships of smoking to lung cancer, the correlation between overweight and many poor health outcomes is irrefutable.
Can you be Healthy at Every Size?
While you can certainly improve your health at every size, it is not possible to achieve optimal health at every size.
Furthermore, improving your lifestyle will likely also normalize your weight.
As we have seen, being both too thin and being too fat can cause serious health consequences and even premature death.
Clearly, you cannot be completely healthy at every size.
Is Body Size an Indicator of Health?
While the Health at Every Size movement claims one can be healthy at any size, the reality is that body size is a reasonably accurate indicator of health.
You cannot be at optimal health at an excessively low weight or an excessively high weight.
Provided you have good eating and exercise habits, you will probably achieve a relatively normal weight anyway.
Can a Person be Both Fat, Fit and Healthy?
Some people can be fat and healthy. However, achieving a normal weight may still result in better health outcomes for most people.
Health at Every Size and Fat Acceptance
Another problem with the Health at Every Size movement is its role in promoting fat acceptance.
While fat people should never be bullied or discriminated against, this movement encourages overweight people to accept their weight instead of try to lose weight.
In my personal opinion, people of any size should still be able to love themselves. However, I think people who are feeling unhealthy in their current size can also benefit from adopting healthy diet and exercise habits and even embracing weight loss.
Health at Every Size and Your Genes
Health at Every Size perpetuates the idea that being overweight is the result of genetic factors instead of lifestyle habits.
However, we know from metabolic ward studies that people don’t generally differ that much in terms of metabolic rate, and people are more similar in their responses to underfeeding or overfeeding than different.
In the Minnesota Starvation Experiment, which was the first experiment on semi-starvation in a group of healthy young men, we learned that people lose a similar amount of weight and have similar hormonal responses to partial starvation. We also learned that people have similar metabolic and hormonal recovery as well as weight restoration when they resume a normal diet with adequate energy intake.
Under a prolonged calorie deficit, everyone will lose weight. Under a prolonged calorie surplus, everyone will gain weight. No one can rewrite the laws of physics.
Obesity Genes
The Health at Every Size movement promotes the narrative the obesity is largely genetically driven.
However, lifestyle and eating habits probably play a greater role in obesity than genetics. After all, obesity is the result of eating too much for a long period of time.
Recent research has demonstrated that certain “obesity genes,” influence hunger and intake, not metabolic rate, like previously thought.
Some people may be more hungry than others, but to say that your genes are mostly responsible for your weight seems disempowering to me.
Societal Factors
The Health at Every Size movement contextualizes obesity as a socioeconomic problem.
According to this movement, food deserts, lack of access to grocery stores and low income are partially responsible for obesity.
It appears that even efforts to reduce food inequality and access to healthy food do not change individual dietary behavior very much.
While societal problems like poverty may predispose people to obesity, this societal lens might not capture the entire picture.
In my opinion, access and education about healthy food options might be part of an effective strategy to help low income people to improve their diets, but individuals still have to remain open to making those dietary changes in the first place.
Conclusions
The Health at Every Size Movement is a popular trend right now towards body acceptance and positivity. In all honesty, the movement has a lot of good tenets as it promotes good nutrition and lifestyle habits without weight loss as the explicit goal. However, this movement may also discourage unhealthy people from taking action on their weight and health habits. What do you think about this movement? Let me know in the comments below.
