The Case for a Health at Every Size Approach for Chronic Disease Risk Reduction in Women of Color

Autumn Rauchwerk; Anne Vipperman-Cohen; Sridevi Padmanabhan; Woheema Parasram; Kate G Burt

doi:10.1016/j.jneb.2020.08.004

The Case for a Health at Every Size Approach for Chronic Disease Risk Reduction in Women of Color

J Nutr Educ Behav. 2020 Nov;52(11):1066-1072. doi: 10.1016/j.jneb.2020.08.004. Epub 2020 Sep 16.

Authors

Autumn Rauchwerk¹, Anne Vipperman-Cohen¹, Sridevi Padmanabhan¹, Woheema Parasram¹, Kate G Burt²

Affiliations

¹ Program in Nutrition, Health, and Behavior Studies, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY.
² Dietetics, Foods, and Nutrition, Department of Health Sciences, Lehman College, City University of New York, New York, NY. Electronic address: Katherine.Burt@lehman.cuny.edu.

PMID: 32948446
DOI: 10.1016/j.jneb.2020.08.004

Abstract

The conventional approach to chronic disease management in women of color is a dieting-for-weight-loss approach, which has not been proven to be effective. The purpose of this article is to highlight the shortcomings of the dieting-for-weight-loss approach and demonstrate the potential efficacy of the Health at Every Size approach when working with women of color to prevent and address chronic diseases. The article's areas of focus are weight stigma, bias, and size discrimination; the implications of differing weight perceptions and motivations for change; and weight as the primary determinant of health and biological factors affecting weight.

Keywords: bias; body image; chronic disease; cultural competence; weight perception.

MeSH terms

Black or African American*
Body Image
Body Weight / physiology*
Chronic Disease* / prevention & control
Chronic Disease* / psychology
Chronic Disease* / therapy
Cultural Competency
Female
Humans
Obesity* / prevention & control
Obesity* / psychology
Obesity* / therapy
Risk Reduction Behavior*
Women / psychology