“Regardless of what your weight is, we can all make good choices to support health.” —Lindo Bacon, PhDLike any form of discrimination, weight stigma—negative bias and attitudes towards people at higher weights—has health consequences. A 2018 review published in BMC Medicine found that weight stigma is linked to poor metabolic health, higher levels of stress hormones, exercise avoidance, and poor mental health. HAES, on the other hand, is about making people feel empowered and respected in health-care settings, no matter their weight.” Click here to read more.
“Proponents of HAES argue that our current view of weight is harmful, not helpful, to those in larger-sized bodies. “By labeling it an obesity epidemic, [you] are problematizing weight,” Dr. Bacon says. ”As soon as you problematize weight, what happens is it’s going to lead to people feeling bad about their bodies; it’s going to lead to bullying, to weight-based discrimination.”