Health at Every Size and Eating Disorder Recovery
The idea that being thin is equivalent to being “healthy” and having a larger body is equal to being “unhealthy” is one of our many societal misconceptions about health that exacerbates the prevalence of eating disorders. Health at Every Size, or HAES, contradicts this idea by asserting that health and wellness are far more important than a number on a scale. Integrating the HAES approach into eating disorder recovery helps to shift the focus from weight to the underlying issues associated with the disorder.
by: Megan Madsen
What is HAES?
Health at Every Size (HAES) is based on the simple principle that honoring your body is the best way to improve health. HAES promotes healthy habits that benefit the health and wellness of your body as a whole as opposed to engaging in weight-regulating behaviors. Health at Every Size does not mean “healthy” at every size; it is possible to be healthy or unhealthy at any size, weight, or shape. Your weight is just one measure of your health. For some, living in a larger body can carry some health risks, while living in a thin body can likewise cause health problems for others.
A number on a scale should never be the sole indicator of one’s health, as it does not take into account all of the factors that contribute to one’s overall wellbeing. There are a number of other components that influence one’s health and wellness including their genetic, physiological, behavioral, environmental, and psychological measures. Focusing solely on weight leaves these other areas unaddressed. Therefore, HAES views health and wellness as a complex network of interconnecting elements, only one of which is weight.
How Do You Apply the HAES Approach?
The fundamental goal of Health at Every Size is to encourage sustainable, healthy behaviors for people of all sizes by promoting body acceptance instead of dieting and weight control methods. Lauren Muhlheim, PsyD, summarizes HAES in the following principles:
Weight Inclusivity: acceptance that bodies naturally come in a variety of shapes and sizes, and no size of body is inherently better than any other size of body.
Health Enhancement: the focus on health rather than weight and attendance to additional disparities that contribute to health including economic, social, spiritual, emotional, and physical factors.
Respectful Care: acknowledgment of weight bias and weight-based discrimination, and the commitment to work towards its end. This involves the adoption of an intersectional lens to understand different identities such as race, body size, gender, sexual identity, etc.
Eating for Well-being: flexible, individualized eating based on hunger, satiety, nutritional needs, and pleasure—not external eating guidelines focused on weight control.
Life-Enhancing Movement: encouragement of enjoyable physical activities for people in a range of bodies with a range of abilities, to the extent that they wish to participate.
HAES and Eating Disorder Recovery
Health at Every Size is designed to prevent eating disorders and reduce the influence of weight-stigma and fat-phobia that diet culture has instilled in our society. Weight-stigma often hinders individuals in larger bodies from receiving the life-saving treatment that they need. There is a misconception that people with eating disorders look a certain way and that there is a prerequisite “thinness” that merits treatment. Eating disorders are legitimate mental illnesses that cannot be diagnosed based solely on someone’s size or shape. Even in the field of eating disorder treatment, weight-stigma and fat-phobia cause harm to those who are trying to recover. HAES promotes body acceptance, an essential component in eating disorder recovery. Unless a person fully accepts their body at any size, it will be difficult to recover from disordered behaviors and beliefs.
While weight should not be the main focus of eating disorder recovery, it is important to take into consideration the medical consequences of unsafe weight-loss or gain. In regard to restrictive eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa, weight restoration is essential in order to stabilize weight and improve the physiological functions of the body. However, achieving a healthier weight through weight restoration is not an indication that the individual has recovered from their eating disorder. Health at Every Size addresses additional issues associated with the disorder relating to self-esteem, stress, identity, trauma, and so on. If there are health concerns for individuals in larger bodies, the behavioral changes associated with HAES will be the most beneficial, sustainable means of improving health as opposed to weight loss.
“The HAES approach shifts the focus from an individual's lack of conformity to the thin ideal to the recognition that the problem is in society's diet culture. HAES does not imply that weight is irrelevant. Rather, HAES situates self-acceptance—including healthy thoughts and behaviors—at the center of conversations about health and wellbeing. If an individual can master a healthy self-regard, then his or her weight will also fall into a healthy place.” -Joanna Kay
At BALANCE eating disorder treatment center, we treat the spectrum of eating disorders including anorexia, bulimia, binge eating disorder, compulsive overeating, and other disordered eating behaviors and body image issues using the Health at Every Size approach. We offer clients four distinct levels of care to meet their specific treatment needs including a day program, intensive outpatient program, step-down groups, and individual nutrition services. Our team applies the HAES approach to help clients overcome their fear of weight gain and reassure them that they can achieve recovery, health, and wellness at any size.
References:
1. Kay, J. (2015). Health At Every Size (HAES). Retrieved from https://www.mirror-mirror.org/haes.htm.
2. Muhlheim, L. (2019, August 6). Health at Every Size (HAES) and Eating Disorders. Retrieved from https://www.verywellmind.com/how-health-at-every-size-can-help-with-eating-disorder-recovery-4161294.
This post was written by BALANCE Marketing Assistant, Megan Madsen.
Megan is currently working toward receiving her B.S. in Psychology. She is a Certified Nursing Assistant with a passion for eating disorder research and education. Megan has worked as a CNA on several units in a hospital setting and as a Psych Tech at an eating disorder treatment center. It was there that she discovered her passion for helping those afflicted with eating disorders and where her desire for educating patients and the community on eating disorders and mental illnesses began. In the future, she hopes to work as a Clinical Psychologist with a focus on eating disorder treatment.