Monday, February 4, 2008

Balancing Evidence and HAES

I am a second year medical student. I am fat. I believe strongly in Health at Every Size: the idea that everyone, regardless of size, can improve health through enjoying physical activity and eating well and pleasurably. I do not believe that dieting or intentional weight loss are healthy or desirable activities.

I started this blog because situations and school get me so angry when obesity is discussed. This is my space to vent.

My lecturers and tutors and classmates mean well. They are certain that encouraging patients to lose weight is positive and will improve health. And beyond that, I wouldn't deny that there is an association between (some) disease and weight. But it's not as strong as is commonly thought. And as Sandy and others point out repeatedly, correlation continues to be different from causation.

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