Basic Tenets of Health at Every Size is a list “developed by dieticians and
nutritionists who are advocates of size acceptance; their efforts coordinated
by Joanne P. Ikeda, MA, RD, Nutrition Education Specialist, Department of
Nutritional Sciences, University of California, Berkeley” according to my
nutrition textbook. It is important
stuff to remember, so I’m going to type it all out:
• Human beings come in a
variety of sizes and shapes. We
celebrate this diversity as a positive characteristic of the human race.
• There is no ideal body
size, shape, or weight that every individual should strive to achieve.
• Every body is a good
body, whatever its size or shape.
• Self-esteem and body
image are strongly linked. Helping
people feel good about their bodies and about who they are can help motivate
and maintain healthy behaviors.
• Appearance stereotyping
is inherently unfair to the individual because it is based on superficial
factors over which the individual has little or no control.
• We respect the bodies
of others even though they might be quite different from our own.
• Each person is
responsible for taking care of his or her body.
• Good health is not
defined by body size; it is a state of physical, mental, and social well-being.
As we approach the new
year and the inevitable resolution crowd, it might not be a bad idea to
consider adopting this list before creating any other resolutions about
fitness. We have to begin where we
are. Moving forward because we want to
be more awesome is a much more pleasant prospect than beginning with the assumption
that we are not acceptable the way we are now.
Let’s motivate ourselves from a place of love.
