Zeitschrift für Fettleibigkeit und Stoffwechsel

Abstrakt

Is The ?Health at Every Size? Approach Useful for Addressing Obesity

Justine J. Reel* and Allison R. Stuart

Obesity has been frequently referred to as a global epidemic and recently was called a “pandemic defining the largest public health challenge of the 21st century” [1] Overweight and obesity rates have been estimated at 1.6 billion adults overweight and 400 million as obese. Meanwhile 155 million school-aged children are overweight or obese [1,2]. Being overweight or obese has been associated with a myriad of health consequences (e.g., type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease risk) [3]. In order to address this health concern, interventions have traditionally promoted consuming less dietary energy and expending more calories through physical activity with the direct goal to lose body weight [4]. Unfortunately traditional approaches can enforce overly restrictive eating plans and rigorous physical activity designed for immediate weight loss rather than developing healthy lifestyle habits. Moreover, the risk for promoting an unsustainable short-term solution (i.e., restrictive eating and intense exercise) carries the potential risk of contributing to a chronic dieting mentality, intense body dissatisfaction, reduced self-esteem, weight stigmatization and disordered eating