52: Healthism

The Dr. Carolyn Coker Ross Show: Binge Eating Disorder, Stress Eating, Emotional Eating, Food Addiction

Health, particularly behavioral health, has become bound up in morality. The term for this is “healthism” based on a philosophy that everyone is responsible for their health but in a way that makes “healthy behaviors” seem to be more morally superior. This is particularly a problem when it comes to body size. There is a feeling that if health is under your control, then that means you must be “choosing” to be obese (as defined by body mass index). Often people living in larger bodies, then are blamed for not fitting into the “healthy ideal.

The problem is that moralizing about health creates weight stigma, which we know leads to discrimination against people of size in many areas of their lives. “Healthism is the new way to promote weight loss.” Schedule free consult with Dr. Ross: https://AnchorProgram.com TEDxPleasantGrove on Intergenerational Trauma: https://youtu.be/ljdFLCc3RtM Stress reduction meditation: https://carolynrossmd.com/loving-kindness-meditation/