Health At Every Size® (HAES)
Health At Every Size® (or HAES for short) is a social justice movement initiated by Lindo Bacon (formerly Linda Bacon) that developed in response to weight stigma and fat phobia in our society.
Whether you’re aware of it or not, most of us have internalised weight bias (i.e. negative beliefs and attitudes about ourselves and other people on the basis of body weight). From a young age, we have been indoctrinated into a society which promotes the idea that some body types are more desirable and valuable than others. Specifically, that thin bodies are better than fat bodies. More specifically, that thin people are better than fat people. In fact, research shows that people in larger bodies often face discrimination in the workplace, barriers in education, and negative attitudes from healthcare professionals.
The HAES movement includes 3 main principles:
Respect (celebrates body diversity and honours differences in size, age, race, ethnicity, gender, dis/ability, sexual orientation, religion, class, and other human attributes)
Critical Awareness (challenges scientific and cultural assumptions and values body knowledge and lived experiences.
Compassionate Self-Care (finding the joy in moving one’s body and being physically active; Eating in a flexible and attuned manner that values pleasure and honours internal cues of hunger, satiety, and appetite, while respecting the social conditions that frame eating options.
The London Centre aims to support the HAES movement by providing a safe and non-judgemental therapeutic space for people of all body shapes and sizes (with and without an eating disorder). For our clients in larger bodies, we can offer a HAES-informed, weight-neutral approach to treatment aimed at fostering thinking styles and behaviours which contribute to improved health and well-being (as opposed to focusing solely on weight loss). Your weight may or may not change through this treatment process and that’s okay! What matters most to us is that you feel heard, understood and empowered to make positive change in your own life.
You can find out more about HAES by visiting the website https://haescommunity.com/