Health at Every Size® Healthcare Provider Listing

I started my professional education in 'public health nutrition' and not 'nutrition science' because I always thought nutritionists were aggressively weight driven, and judgmental and I wanted to work on policy, not shame people into hating food. When I picked up the first textbook for a nutrition class course requirement, however, I found tucked away in a two inch by two inch corner of a page, a little blurb that stated that some nutritionists 'believe in HAES®.' It was an 'aha' moment that eventually led me to become a nutritionist. I have worked inpatient and in outpatient hospital-affiliated clinics primarily. Fatphobia is rampant in these settings, and indoctrinated into every incoming medical resident. It is extremely rare for a patient to make it out of the hospital or a doctor's appointment without getting instructed to lose weight by any means necessary. As a preceptor for nutrition interns as well as among every peer group of dietitians I have worked with, I have presented HAES® data and warned them of the shattering of trust that can occur if they judge a person's health or personality or anything else with the bias that weight loss is a panacea. I have created anti-fatphobic presentations for medical professionals and occasionally been permitted to present the entire way through! And finally, as a white woman, I have read, followed and continue to read a follow the work of the black women who first addressed the racism inherent in medical fatphobia.