Haes

[-Fran-]

Someone I don't know particularly well have been trying to sell me on the idea of Health At Every Size (HEAS) and I'm skeptical. I've tried to look it up to form a view of it, but googling it there are pages upon pages upon pages... of proponents writing about it, and I feel I would need a more balanced view. I don't seem to be able to find any real criticism of this.

Anyone knows anything about it?

[fagin]

I can see why it's popular.
Now pass the chocolate.

[-Fran-]

I can see why it's popular.

In other words, some skepticism is warranted... :)

Now pass the chocolate.

You're welcome to it all ;)

[The Don]

My two pennorth.....

Categorising obesity as an epidemic and stigmatising obese people is probably not the best way to address the issue of obesity and the possible impact it may have on society. Encouraging people who are obese to make lifestyle and eating choices which are more likely to improve their quality of life is probably no bad thing. Some people respond better to the carrot than the stick.

The trouble is that there are groups of people who may use the HAES movement to justify poor life choices or use it to suggest that obesity does not reduce life expectancy on average.

If a person is obese then adopting some or all of the recommendations of HAES may help them to live longer and may even help them to lose weight.

[-Fran-]

My two pennorth.....

Categorising obesity as an epidemic and stigmatising obese people is probably not the best way to address the issue of obesity and the possible impact it may have on society. Encouraging people who are obese to make lifestyle and eating choices which are more likely to improve their quality of life is probably no bad thing. Some people respond better to the carrot than the stick.

The trouble is that there are groups of people who may use the HAES movement to justify poor life choices or use it to suggest that obesity does not reduce life expectancy on average.

If a person is obese then adopting some or all of the recommendations of HAES may help them to live longer and may even help them to lose weight.

Maybe I should give a bit more background. Thing is that with a lot of sitting at the PC in my work, and getting older, and having a sweet tooth... as so many others I'd gained quite a bit of weight, and I decided to make a lifestyle change. I cut sweets and cakes, and so on, from my diet, reduced my portions, switched to whole wheat bread, eat mostly chicken and fish, and things like rice, and lots of veggies and fruit. I also started to take long walks in the woods and keeping a food diary to get a good image of where I ate too much and too badly. During the course of 8 months I've lost about 22 kg (I wouldn't have thought that pace would be stressful to the body). It's been easier than I thought, mainly because I didn't jump onto a fad diet, but tried to create better habits that I can keep for the rest of my life, with small adjustments (and let-ups) to the bit stricter plan I keep to now, once I reach my goal. Lately I've hit a plaetau though and don't seem to lose more, and I mentioned this fact annoys me since I've not quite reached my goal yet.

Now, according to this person what I'm doing is unhealthy, dangerous, fatal to my heart and shows obsessive behavior. And then she brought up the HAES stuff. Telling her that I was in pretty bad shape before and that this could only mean a turn for the better, didn't help. NONE of my problems before had to do with my weight - NONE of them! The diet industry only tries to make me believe that to make money off me (no matter that I've paid nothing to anyone to do this, and have even reduced my grocery budget by planning my food buys better, and not spending so much on sweets and other junk.)

She also claims my body knows itself what to eat. Uhhh... my sure don't, or I wouldn't have gained all that weight from the start, would I? What is wrong with letting your brain take over a bit and tell your body, 'no you can't eat sweets every day!' because that's what my body told me! That whole 'your body knows what's right at all times' just sounds very woo to me!

I'm puzzled! I haven't felt this good in years, I sleep much better and the stubborn pain I had in my knees is totally gone. I am experiencing a huge difference in how I feel, and have a lot more energy. But before I was fine, and now I'm a danger to myself??? :confused:

Is she mostly misrepresenting this movement?

[The Don]

I have just read some of the excerpts from the book and it does seem to imply that there are no health risks from being obese. This seems to run counter to the available evidence. According to HAES obesity doesn't cause diabetes it's just that fat people happen also to be type 2 diabetic. It doesn't address why the type 2 diabetes goes away when the weight is lost.

The author is a PhD rather than an MD which is telling.

If you are happy about you new lifestyle and the associated weight loss then more power to your elbow.

[-Fran-]

I have just read some of the excerpts from the book and it does seem to imply that there are no health risks from being obese. This seems to run counter to the available evidence. According to HAES obesity doesn't cause diabetes it's just that fat people happen also to be type 2 diabetic. It doesn't address why the type 2 diabetes goes away when the weight is lost.

The author is a PhD rather than an MD which is telling.

If you are happy about you new lifestyle and the associated weight loss then more power to your elbow.

I'll remember the PhD part...

And yes, it would seem to me too that some problems is hard to explain away. I mean, it wasn't a virus that caused my knees to hurt!

Thanks. I guess I felt a bit upset since she seemed to indicate that I promote some sort of anorexic unhealthy ideal, just by losing weight in (what I thought) a fairly sensible way. I'm not. I rather like my curves :) I just want to be healthy!

[bumlet5]

I'm just starting to learn about this and I feel I need to clarify something.

From what I understand, your friend is wrong about what HAES entails. HAES is a commitment to being health focused and weight neutral. If you are changing your behaviours to become more healthy, that's fantastic and what HAES encourages. If you happen to lose weight because of those changes (as weight gain can be a result of poor health habits), cool. If your sole goal is weight loss, that's contrary to HAES.

HAES (https://www.sizediversityandhealth.org/content.asp?id=76) seems to be about appreciating and loving your body as well as taking care of it. Obesity is not a cause of anything, merely a correlation. Obesity is correlated to diabetes, heart disease, and other health issues, but since unhealthy thin people get those things too it would make sense that it's the lack of healthy behaviours that lead to those things (as well as to obesity in those who have a tendency to it.

I understand your friend's anger toward the diet industry. I have been there myself, but I blame that industry for society's attitude toward assuming that fat people are lazy, unhealthy slobs and I don't use them as a scapegoat for my poor decisions.

I am also a fan of the Underpants Rule (http://danceswithfat.wordpress.com/2012/06/06/the-underpants-rule-and-you/), which your friend is violating.

[casebro]

The most robust study I know of says the healthiest (for longevity) BMI is 25-34. Taht is "overweight", higer is "obese". And I wonder if any study has ever stratified it's subjects by height too- as in should the BMI formula be shifted, because taller people can be healthy at higher BMI?

But this is the first I've heard of HAES.