(1888PressRelease)
September 07, 2006 - HAES NEWS
Health Experts Challenge Damaging Weight Myths
Nationwide this month, Health at Every Size experts are publishing books, releasing movies, talking to med school students, leading fitness workouts, and challenging the New England Journal of Medicine for publishing junk science.
Health At Every Size is a weight-neutral approach to good health that focuses on behavior, not BMI.
HAES experts criticize the New England Journal of Medicine
Responses to the New England Journal of Medicine study, published August 24, that claims “overweight” Americans are more likely to die…
“This study proves yet again that so-called ‘overweight’ people live longest, but that if you throw out most of your data you may still be able to reach the government-approved conclusion that they don’t.”
—University of Colorado law professor Paul Campos, author of The Obesity Myth: Why America’s Obsession with Weight Is Hazardous to Your Health
“It’s not surprising to see this backlash. (An earlier report in the Journal of the American Medical Association — which is completely consistent with many previous studies — reported that ‘overweight’ predicted lower mortality risk than ‘normal’ weight.) Fear-mongering about weight is worth billions to industry and consistent with government policy. Few stand to gain from the news that overweight is benign, if not beneficial. That said, it’s still surprising to me that this got through peer review at New England Journal of Medicine: the data in this study actually shows overweight was not associated with increased risk of death. It took a lot of manipulation to get where they ended up!”
— Linda Bacon, PhD, associate nutritionist at University of California at Davis, nutrition professor at City College in San Francisco,
HEALTH AT EVERY SIZE events in September/October:
SEPTEMBER 1
WHO: Pat Lyons, RN, founder of WomanCare Plus, a project to reduce barriers to medical care for fat women
WHAT: Now available: A Big Woman’s Passport to Best Health
WHERE: c/o The Center for Health Training-Resource Group, 614 Grand Ave., Suite 400, Oakland, California, 94610
CONTACT: lyons.pat ( @ ) sbcglobal dot net
SEPTEMBER 1-7
WHO: Linda Bacon, PhD, associate nutritionist at University of California at Davis, nutrition professor at City College in San Francisco, interviewed by Veronica Cook-Euell, host of the Size Matters show
WHAT: Size Matters radio show on “HAES—The New Peace Movement”
WHERE: www.theeuellconsultinggroup.com/listen.asp
CONTACT: www.sizematterstoo.com, veronica ( @ ) sizematterstoo dot com
SEPTEMBER 2
WHO: Kelly Bliss, certified fitness trainer and lifestyle coach
WHAT: Grand opening for Real People Workout™—ongoing aerobics, toning, and stretching class
WHERE: St. John Episcopal Church, Lansdowne, Pennsylvania (Philadelphia area)
WHEN: 6:15pm on Tuesday and Thursday, 10am on Saturday
CONTACT: www.kellybliss.com
SEPTEMBER 5-6
WHO: Connie Sobczak, founder of the Body Positive, a HAES resource for youth
WHAT: A youth leadership training seminar for 15 high school students and their school counselor
WHERE: Canyon Crest Academy, San Diego, California
WHEN: 8:30am-5pm; 8:30am-1pm
CONTACT: www.thebodypositive.org
SEPTEMBER 8-9
WHO: Judith Matz, LCSW
WHAT: A seminar entitled Attuned Eating: Feeding Yourself from the Inside Out, and a book signing for The Diet Survivor's Handbook: 60 Lessons in Eating, Acceptance and Self-Care
WHEN: 4pm-7pm on Friday, Sept. 8; 9am-noon on Saturday, Sept. 9
WHERE: The Bannockburn Club, Deerfield, Illinois
CONTACT: judithmatz ( @ ) dietsurvivors dot com, www.dietsurvivors.com
SEPTEMBER 10
WHO: Jon Robison, PhD, co-editor of journal of Health At Every Size
WHAT: New issue release: Health At Every Size journal, with an excerpt from University of Chicago political science professor Eric Oliver’s book, Fat Politics: The Real Story Behind America’s Obesity Epidemic
WHERE: www.gurze.com/client/client_pages/newsletterhes.cfm
CONTACT: robisonj ( @ ) msu dot edu
SEPTEMBER 13-14
WHO: Beth Bernstein, MFT, and Matilda St. John, MFT
WHAT: Reading their open letter to Carnie Wilson and the hate mail it generated, as part of the book release party for Bitchfest: 10 Years of Bitch Magazine
WHEN: 7pm on Sept. 13; 7:30pm on Sept. 14
WHERE: Cody’s Books, Berkeley, California; Modern Times Bookstore, San Francisco, California
CONTACT: bethelb@mindspring.com, matildastjohn ( @ ) sbcglobal dot net
SEPTEMBER 15
WHO: Ellen Frankel, LCSW, author
WHAT: Book release: Beyond Measure: A Memoir About Short Stature and Inner Growth
WHERE: Pearlsong Press, Nashville, Tennessee
CONTACT: http://www.beyondmeasureamemoir.com/
SEPTEMBER 17
WHO: Francie Berg, MS, editor of the Healthy Weight Network, and Linda Omichinski, RD, president and founder of HUGS, Int’l., Inc., non-diet program
WHAT: HAES exhibitors; first-ever release to dieticians of the HUGS film, Dieting: At War with Our Bodies; sale of book, Underage and Overweight: Our Childhood Obesity Crisis
WHERE: American Dietetics Conference, Honolulu, Hawaii
CONTACT: fmberg@healthyweight.net, www.healthyweight.net; www.hugs.com, linda@hugs.com
SEPTEMBER 19
WHO: Judith Matz, LCSW
WHAT: HAES in-service training for Niles Township Consortium of 42 agencies, entitled Attitudes Toward Dieting, Food and Weight: Important Considerations for Mental Health Professionals, based on her book, Beyond a Shadow of a Diet: The Therapist's Guide to Treating Compulsive Eating
WHEN: 9:30am
WHERE: Turning Point Behavioral Care, Skokie, Illinois
CONTACT: judithmatz ( @ ) dietsurvivors dot com, www.dietsurvivors.com
SEPTEMBER 20
WHO: Paul Ernsberger, PhD, professor at Case Western Reserve University
WHAT: Lecture to first-year medical students on “Obesity and Health Disparities”; lecture to therapists on Health At Every Size
WHEN: noon; 5pm
WHERE: Northwestern University Medical School; The Family Institute of Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois
CONTACT: pre@cwru.edu
SEPTEMBER 28
WHO: Paul Campos, Colorado University-Boulder law professor and author of The Obesity Myth: Why America’s Obsession with Weight Is Hazardous to Your Health
WHAT: A lecture on why the BMI definitions of “overweight” and “obesity” are unscientific and harmful, and should be abandoned
WHERE: World Nutrition Conference, Barcelona, Spain
OCTOBER 1
WHO: Nomi Dekel, MFT
WHAT: Launch of a new website, VoluptuArt: Art & Gifts for Celebrating Your Body™
WHERE: www.VoluptuArt.com
CONTACT: Nomi@VoluptuArt.com
OCTOBER 5
WHO: Sandy Schaffer, certified fitness trainer, and Rochelle Rice, MA, certified fitness coach and author of Real Fitness for Real Women
WHAT: Workshop on “Core Success for the Overweight”
WHEN: 1:15pm
WHERE: IDEA Personal Trainer Conference, New York City, New York
CONTACT: Workoutwithsandy@aol.com
WHO: Marilyn Wann, author of FAT!SO?—Because You Don’t Have to Apologize for Your Size!
WHAT: Weight diversity training
WHEN: 4:10pm-7pm
WHERE: San Francisco State University Women’s Health course, San Francisco, California
CONTACT: (415) 516-1474
The Association for Size Diversity and Health (ASDAH) is an international professional organization composed of individual and organizations members who are committed to the principles of Health At Every Size (HAES). The mission of the Association for Size Diversity and Health is to promote education, research, and the provision of services which enhance health and well-being, and which are free from weight-based assumptions and weight discrimination.
CONTACT for ASDAH: Claudia Clark, PhD, caclark@bgsu.edu
