Med Journal Watch interview with Linda Bacon, Ph.D.

Christian Bachmann interviewed Health At Every Size  advocate Linda Bacon, Ph.D. for his Med Journal Watch blog.

Among the gems (emphases mine):

CB: Any treatment should follow the rule "first do not harm." Does the war on obesity meet this rule?

LB: Sounds good to me. Seems clear its it's time to end the war, which we're clearly losing anyway. There's an antidote to the war on obesity, called "Health at Every Size" which supports people in engaging in healthy lifestyle habits as opposed to a primary focus in weight loss. I envision it as a peace movement.

I conduct research on Health at Every Size (HAES). The results show that women can make very dramatic improvements in health and well-being through adopting HAES. These results were particularly dramatic when the women in the Health at Every Size program were compared to others in a conventional weight loss program. Those in the weight loss program experienced the typical results -- initial weight loss and health improvement -- not sustained over time. And their self-esteem plummeted. This was in sharp contrast to the phenomenal improvements experienced by the women in the Health at Every Size program, who felt very much empowered.

CB: Thank you, Linda, for giving us a fresh view on a problem that only seems to be a problem because we make it a problem.

Bachmann, by the way, is a science and medical writer and editor who pinpoints Aug. 2, 2007 as the day he stopped believing in weight loss.  In another post on Med Journal Watch, he  writes that until that day

...I was not aware that weight loss is a religion and that I was a believer. I was convinced that science had proven obesity to be bad for health. I took for granted that obese people must lose weight in order to gain health and to live longer and better. Today is the day when I have changed my mind.

Previously, in writing "weight loss tips" on his blog, Bachmann had "stumbled upon facts that did not fit my view as a weight loss advocate"....such as a study in which fat men lived longer than thin men and experts claiming that the "war on obesity" is doing more harm than good. After deciding to examine the facts personally and draw his own conclusions, Bachmann stopped considering "excess body weight" as a disease needing "treatment" by diets, drugs, and surgeries.

Others from various backgrounds have come to similar conclusions after reviewing weight-related research with eyes unclouded by the assumption that fatness is always bad.

Political scientist J. Eric Oliver, Ph.D. went through a comparable awakening in the process of researching and writing Fat Politics: The Real Story Behind America's Obesity Epidemic. Attorney/law professor (and Rocky Mountain News columnist) Paul Campos did the same when researching and writing The Obesity Myth: Why America's Obsession with Weight is Hazardous to Your Health (published in paperback as The Diet Myth).

Various ealth professionals, like exercise physiologist Glenn Gaesser, Ph.D., came to a Health At Every Size perspective after noticing the ultimate futility of weight-loss pursuits in their patients and the utility of focusing on healthy behaviors (regular exercise/activity, good nutrition) without pursuing weight loss. (Gaesser provides an excellent review of the research supporting the dangers of weight-based health interventions in his book Big Fat Lies: The Truth About Your Weight and Your Health.)

If more scientists, health professionals and journalists would actually look at weight-related health claims and research with a critical -- or even simply unbiased -- eye, the sanity might spread.