FA and HAES
(For the uninformed, that would be “Fat acceptance” and “Health at any size”)
I’m sorry to all the FA readers or proponents out there, but I simply can’t get behind the HAES philosophy, although it probably isn’t for the reason most people think. Do I believe a large person with a high BMI can be “healthy”? Yes. Do I know that someone can eat mostly vegetables and exercise every day and have low blood pressure, low cholesterol, a good heart rate, no diabetes, and still be fat? Yes. I suppose that was the original intent of the HAES catch phrase and idea put out there, since most of the world seems to assume that if you “eat right and exercise” you will, of course, be thin.
There’s no (yes you read that right, no) scientific proof that this is the case. You do see indications in certain experiments that going on a diet reduces high blood pressure and cholesterol WHILE ONE IS ON THE DIET. There is no indication that the vast majority of people are going to be able to override their bodies desperate urges to feed themselves for a lifetime (this is why 95% of all diets fail), so as soon as they return to eating food with actual flavor that will adequately nourish them, the numbers go right back up. Not that there is any real proof that those numbers rising means ill health is around the corner either. The entirely of the belief that there are “bad” foods that will make your blood pressure, cholesterol, and weight go up and that in turn those numbers going up will make you sick are associations built upon associations – in other words, there is no proof that eating a hamburger every day will cause you to have a heart attack before you turn 60. Although that’s kinda gross and wouldn’t you want something else once in a while? I digress.
So the FA movement came up with the HAES idea anyway to try to promote to a largely uncaring public that fat people don’t necessarily live any differently from slim people, despite the plethora of media images of fat people shoving high fat, high calorie, sugar laden foods into their mouth while lying on the couch all day. And for that they are to be commended. But I worry about a hierarchy developing, wherein I see such things as FA proponents proudly listing the “healthy” (low fat, low sugar, organic, vegetarian/vegan) foods they eat on their blogs, talking about how much exercise they get, bragging about how low their blood pressure and cholesterol are.
So are people who do not have “good numbers” allowed to be in the FA movement? What if they make you look bad? What if, like most Americans, I am a fat person who doesn’t engage in leisure time exercise for half an hour 3-5 times a week (something also not proven to make any difference in one’s longevity)? Am I disqualified from speaking up in the FA movement? And… what if I am not healthy?
Because I’m not. I am not a child, I am not ignorant on the amount of calories, fat grams, carbs, protein grams, or anything else in my food (after living 25 years with an eating disorder I can probably tell you the calories in every food I like in my sleep), I am not ignorant about exercise, I have tried, multiple times, doing about every little thing anyone has ever suggested I do to “lose weight and get fit and healthy” and the reality is – I am NOT healthy, nothing I eat or do not eat, drink or do not drink, is going to change that. I cannot, by manipulating my diet, solve my endocrine problems, my joint problems, I cannot undo my PTSD, I cannot make my migraines disappear, I cannot reverse the effects of trauma on my life. I am chronically ill, mentally and physically, and there is no reason to think I will not always be ill.
Should I, and other disabled people, be shuffled to the bottom and hidden away because we are not “healthy”? Is the FA’s insistence on HAES truly a counter-cultural message, or is it buying into the societal hierarchy of “health”, where those who are “fit and trim” are on top? Isn’t HAES just saying that “deserving” fat people should be allowed at the top too? Does it truly challenge the hierarchy?
I’m really only interested in challenging the hierarchy, the one that puts male, white, young adult, healthy/able bodied, “fit”, thin, rich, Christian, heterosexual people on top and tells everyone else that the more they deviate from these “desirable” qualities, the less they deserve to have. To this end, I don’t see HAES as a valuable tool.
