Health for All Sizes: Look to the New Weight and Health Paradigm

Promoting weight loss through exercise, dietary restrictions, and behavior change is rarely successful. It often results in weight loss and weight gain cycles, which can lead to increased physical and mental health risks, and lead to physical hostility, disruptive eating habits, and addiction to exercise. [1,2] Indeed, this is a crazy definition expressed by Alcoholics Anonymous.


There is, however, an interesting, effective, alternative approach to this problem.It's called "Health at All Sizes" (HAES). The basic conceptual framework for this approach includes the adoption of: Natural diversity in body shape and size Inefficiency and dietary risks to lose weight The importance of a balanced diet in response to internal body symptoms An important contribution to the social, emotional, spiritual and physical aspects of life and happiness. The table compares the basic concepts of normal weight management methods with those of HAES. [3] The HAES philosophy promotes the idea that a healthy, healthy weight cannot be determined by numbers, by weight / weight chart, or by calculating body weight index or body fat percentage. Instead, HAES defines a "healthy weight" as a person's weight as he or she moves on to a satisfying and purposeful lifestyle. These include, but are not limited to, dieting in accordance with the internal indications of hunger, appetite, and satiety as well as participation in sensible and continuous levels of physical activity. Although research and information have clearly shown that focusing on weight loss as a primary goal is more likely to produce cycling and, over time, increasing weight, [4,5,6,7,8,9] the HAES approach certainly does not. they suggest that all people currently have a very healthy weight in their conditions. The overarching goal, however, is that movement to a healthy lifestyle over time will produce that healthy person's weight. It is important to understand that losing weight does not mean ignoring health risks and medical problems. When survivors have medical problems, HAES suggests that health professionals provide the same alternatives to thin people who cause similar problems. In the case of a young person with significant high blood pressure, for example, common sense promotes dietary changes, increased physical activity, and controlling medication-induced stress if necessary. However a survivor who develops the same disease is told to lose weight, regardless of what is known about the possible side effects of this recommendation. The HAES method supports a “complete” view of health that promotes a sense of well-being; eating well in a natural, relaxed way; and working comfortably. [10] The following table lists the main focus of dieting and weight-related struggles in terms of HAES [3]: Self-acceptance: affirmation and strengthening of one's beauty and fitness, regardless of weight, body size, and posture; Physical activity: community-based support, pleasure-based movement for enjoyment and improved quality of life; and Normal diet: support for abandoning dietary rules and regulations and gaining a healthy relationship with food by re-learning diet in response to physiologic hunger and symptoms of satiety. The overriding goal of health professionals is to help people live healthy, fulfilling lives by taking care of their bodies. HAES offers an effective, compassionate approach to the failure of traditional methods. There are a number of books that clearly show that many so-called weight-related problems can be successfully treated with minimal weight loss. [11,12,13] Even with type 2 diabetes, blood glucose can be normalized without weight loss. even when the patient remains obese according to traditional medical standards. This finding is further reinforced by a growing body of research showing that active and fit obese people have lower mortality rates than unemployed and overweight people. [14,15,16] Finally, recent research shows that the HAES method is obviously superior to the state-of-the-art , behavioral weight loss interventions to improve the long-term health of obese participants. [17,18] Although HAES may not always help to make people thin, by adopting this new approach we can help people of all sizes to have better health. By not promoting weight loss as a major goal, we can prevent future generations of children, women, and men from developing eating disorders, losing weight, getting involved in risky weight loss strategies, and dying thin.