Our culture is one where fixation on dieting and body size infiltrates nearly every corner – from classrooms, universities, and curriculums to the office spaces of health and nutrition professionals. This grievous reality means that people encounter weight stigma in spaces designed to educate, heal, and empower. It means that many healthcare practitioners, despite their best intentions, heap servings of guilt and shame onto their patients’ plates. Ultimately, these blind spots undermine the medical community’s effectiveness as well as the mental and physical health of those dependent upon their care. What would it take to challenge these harmful practices and generate meaningful, positive change?
The good news is that Health at Every Size® and non-diet approaches offer evidence-based, weight-inclusive frameworks to begin paving a path of awareness, education, and rebirth. They support clients in caring for body, mind, and soul in ways both sustainable and holistic. Since most undergraduate and graduate programs have yet to integrate these healing modalities into their curriculums, practitioners who hear about and resonate with them must seek further training independently (in fact, we created EDRDpro to provide dietitians with affordable, high-quality resources to help fill this educational gap!). An essential component of our work as non-diet professionals, then, is to share this knowledge with our colleagues and communities.
Dismantling diet culture can feel like an uphill battle, so we invited Fiona Willer as a guest expert for our November 2017 members-only webinar to share “the art and science of disseminating weight-neutral practices.” Adopting new frameworks is a process, she explained, involving an awareness of the need for change, a decision to accept the framework, initial experimentation of the framework, and sustained application. Those of us already practicing from the Health at Every Size® and non-diet approach have the opportunity to encourage and support our colleagues in moving through these stages to do the same. Trust that the ripple effect of our collective relationships, social media platforms, and online communities is a powerful instrument of change. Our impact and reach are stronger together. How can you use your unique voice as a force for healing, restoration, and integrity in the health and nutrition field?
Hungry for more strategies to effectively share the weight-inclusive message? Watch Fiona Willer’s webinar, What do iPhones and HAES have in Common? The Art and Science of Disseminating Weight Neutral Practices, in our members-only webinar library. If you’re not yet part of the EDRDpro community, you can explore our membership options here!
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