The Health at Every Size Approach: Creating a Body Positive Home for Children and Parents of All Sizes

Every day we are bombarded with scary reports about the weight problems of Americans. Fatness seems to have been deemed a scarier problem than terrorism. At the same time, our society’s belief in the protective value of thinness has led countless people to invest their time, energy, money, and hope in endless cycles of pursuing weight loss.

For parents who see their children and teens struggle with a social culture that glorifies thinness and stigmatizes the majority of body types and sizes, it can be confusing how to support their health and well-being. We will discuss how to support your children's intuitive abilities to let their bodies help them in making eating choices; how to help them navigate a frequently cruel social world and believe in their strengths; and how to manage one's own anxieties about body image, eating, and weight so that your home can be a "body disparagement" free zone

Presenter Bio

Dr. Deb Burgard is a psychologist, eating disorders specialist, and author. She is one of the founders of the Health at Every Size (HAES) model and co-leads the HAES Special Interest Group within the Academy for Eating Disorders (AED). She is a co-author of the AED's "Guidelines for Childhood Obesity Prevention Programs" that "ensure that childhood obesity programs are carried out with equal concern for children’s physical, social and emotional health."