this post was submitted on 21 Feb 2024
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You understand that that campaign wasn't to promote "being fat" but was, instead, about ending the cycle of despair that traps many people in obesity, right? Like, food is addicting (on purpose, gotta make those profits) and there are people who struggle to eat the appropriate amount of get the correct nutrition. When you pile shame onto people, sure, some will change their habits and get their health back on track. But most people, when confronted with negative emotions, will attempt to soothe the feelings of negativity rather than deal with the source of the negativity. For many people, negative campaigns against obesity will just drive them to consume more. Or, maybe they'll try a fad diet out of desperation, unknowing that fad diets tend to be focused on quick results that don't have lasting impacts on overall health. Or even negative impacts, as they'll fail to stick with the diet and gain even more weight than they lost back.
Health at any size was focused on helping people to make small, meaningful changes that they could keep going with for a lifetime. By attempting to remove the stigma of weight, they were trying to get people out of focusing on their weight and instead focused on what they could do to feel better right now (in a healthy and constructive manner).
But, like most things, people who didn't understand what was being attempted shit on it endlessly until people stopped trying to do it.
The obesity epidemic isn't some moral failing of individuals it's a systemic failing and, until it's treated as such, the obesity rate will only continue to rise.
I already know this is going to be awash with downvotes (again, soothing negativity rather than dealing with the source) but it needs to be said.
The thing about HAES is that it has always been a wolf in sheep's clothing
The very origins going back to the '60s come from "we aren't happy that we are fat and viewed as unattractive, so lets change what people think is attractive."
Health related concepts were thrown in to legitimize the argument and to act as a convenient red herring.
Yes there is always been a shame reduction aspect, but that shame reduction has been consistently used to enable further self destructive behavior.
It is a highly poisonous mindset that has set back public health by decades.
It's genuinely great to hear that that wasn't the overall goal or intention of the idea.
That said, I think it also does need to be acknowledged that there absolutely were prominent influencers on social media who preached HAES literally - as in, posting videos vehemently declaring the doctors are lying to you and obesity is actually perfectly healthy.
I guess as with many other things, it's a case of the extreme outliers (who in this case, as you say, didn't even get the point) getting the most attention and spoiling things for the sane people.
They chose their slogan really poorly. Because "healthy at every size" makes it seem like there's a healthy way to be fat.
If most come off with the wrong conclusion from a campaign then that's a poorly done campaign.
Then the campaign slogan runs a close second for All Time Stupid, right next to "Defund the Police".
Two great ideas who managed to suicide over idiot slogans.
Few things are as pathetic as preemptively whining about down votes.
I'm neurodivergent and sometimes need to psych myself up to post something I think is important. Don't know what else to say. Downvoting is a type of social conditioning and I don't do well with that, in general.
I am a formerly obese person who got out of that cycle before HAES hit. I had obese people tell me that HAES meant they are healthy if they could walk up a flight of stairs. Those are the people I am talking about, and they seemed to be people saying HAES the loudest. If there's a public perception problem surrounding HAES that's not on the public, that's on the people who let their message get diluted.
For the record, I made no comment about morality, though I do consider overconsumption to be immoral.
Fair enough, there were also people that misused the term that also made the messaging worthless as well.
Man what a valuable comment, thanks for sharing it. I had never heard of health at any size but it sounds great. Sad story tho :(