Shifting our approach to food and nutrition from weight-centric to one focused on autonomy, respect, equity and social determinants of health aligns with public health values and improves our effectiveness in bettering the overall well-being of our communities and their members.
For those who would like a quick overview, here is our Top 5 List of things we wish more public health educators and practitioners knew about body liberation.
By Stasha Hornbeck - If I’m not prescribing “what to eat” anymore, what is a dietitian to do? One clinical dietitian and diabetes educator shares the ways she is shifting from a weight-normative to a weight-inclusive, trauma-informed approach in a large healthcare environment.
Focus on Equity: Including weight stigma in our anti-oppression work allows us to take a more inclusive and expansive approach to equity. Body liberation adds an important piece to our liberatory, health-enhancing work.
Health is Multi-Dimensional: Our health encompasses much more than just nutrition and exercise. A multi-dimensional view is more balanced and more respectful of a variety of cultures, as well as individual autonomy.
Correlation ≠ Causation: A body liberation approach enables us to be truer to the values that underlie our work. In this series of articles, we examine ways we can improve our public health work by becoming more weight-inclusive.
Weight science refers to research about weight loss methods, and the connection between weight and various health conditions, including purported harms of higher weights, and claims of efficacy and benefits of weight loss.
A basic understanding of our human stress response is helpful for making sense of the role of weight stigma and other oppressions on our health. Reducing the chronic stress of weight stigma can improve health.