Problem
Read through this abstract, taken from an article in the journal, Nutrition (Bacon and Aframor, 2011):
Abstract: Current guidelines recommend that "overweight" and "obese" individuals lose weight through engaging in lifestyle modification involving diet, exercise, and other behavioral changes. This approach reliably induces short-term weight loss, but the majority of individuals are unable to maintain weight loss over the long term and do not achieve the putative benefits of improved morbidity and mortality. Concern has arisen that this weight focus is not only ineffective at producing thinner, healthier bodies, but may also have unintended consequences, contributing to food and body preoccupation, repeated cycles of weight loss and regain, a distraction from other personal health goals, and wider health determinants, reduced self-esteem, eating disorders another health decrement, and weight stigmatization and discrimination. This concern has drawn increased attention to the ethical implications of recommending treatment that may be ineffective or damaging. A growing trans-disciplinary movement called Health at Every Size (HAES) challenges the value of promoting weight loss and dieting behavior and argues for a shift in focus to weight-neutral outcomes. Randomized controlled clinical trials indicate that a HAES approach is associated with statistically and clinically relevant improvements in physiological measures (e.g., blood pressure, blood lipids), health behaviors (e.g., eating and activity habits, dietary quality), and psychosocial outcomes (such as self-esteem and body image), and that HAES achieves these health outcomes more successfully than weight loss treatment and without the contraindications associated with a weight focus. This paper evaluates the evidence and rationale that justifies shifting the healthcare paradigm from a conventional weight focus to HAES.
Do research on this topic, Health at Every Size.? What do you think of this approach? Are there pieces of evidence to support healthy outcomes of this approach over trying to lose weight? What are the measures of a healthy outcome for this approach? What do you think are obstacles to using this approach?