The Myths About Weight to Leave Behind
As we all navigate the dumpster fire that has become of our healthcare system, there is one thing we can all do to stop doing harm.
Last week, I vacationed in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic - the first time I’ve left the United States since I returned for graduate school in 2016! I had a good old time between the warm weather, muy delicioso food, quiet(ish) pool time, and strong adult beverages. Even though I primarily focused on being “unscheduled” and avoiding using my phone as much as possible, I made time to finish books that have been on my bookshelf for far too many years. One of those books was Reclaiming Body Trust: A Path to Healing and Liberation by Hilary Kinavey and Dana Sturtevant.
I will confess I started this book when it first came out. While I made up the excuse I didn’t have the time to devote to reading it, the truth is that I wasn’t yet at a place in my body journey to embrace what I was reading from Kinavey and Sturtevant. I thought I had broken up for good with diet culture, but in reality, I still was keeping it on the back burner.
Like Tiffany Pollard aka New York once said she’s not a back burner betch (not the word she used, but we are keeping it PG-13), diet culture also doesn’t like to be on the back burner. Diet culture, like New York, has main character energy and will not be treated as anything less than that.
As I was reading Reclaiming Body Trust, I was reminded of all the myths that keep healthcare providers from adopting a weight-inclusive approach to health. Specifically, I was thinking about how health is treated as a moral obligation in many ways. When people aren’t performing health in the way society has deemed appropriate, they are considered bad. When people perform health as society deems proper, they are deemed good.
When I first became a health coach, I truly believed that this way of seeing things was the only way to look at health. If you were eating healthy, exercising, and maintaining a “healthy” weight, then I believed your health was good. What I sadly didn’t consider was that if you didn’t have access to nutritious foods, if the place where you lived was unsafe to exercise outdoors, and if you were a person of color who many health metrics weren’t created for, then my definition of health wasn’t relevant to you. My definition of health was rooted in bias, not the realities that many people I coached and even my family lived.
Through books like Reclaiming Body Trust, Live Nourished, Decolonizing Wellness, The Body Liberation Project, American Detox, and Fearing the Black Body, I have been challenged to unlearn the myths I’ve been taught about health. However, I had to be willing to take that challenge and you have to be willing to do the same to ensure you’re not unintentionally doing harm. That’s why I want to take a moment to address some common myths I hear from healthcare providers when talking about weight-inclusive care—and how these misconceptions keep them from delivering truly equitable care to patients and clients.
Myth #1: I don’t have time to learn this.
I get it—time is tight. But the harsh reality is that learning about weight-inclusive care isn’t just another continuing education unit (CEU). We should have been taught weight-inclusive care in our respective schools and certification programs, but we weren’t. Therefore, we must learn about weight-inclusivity to ensure that our patients and clients receive care that isn’t based on their weight, size, or shape.
One of the things that I’ve learned not just as a health coach, but later as a health educator was that weight stigma is a significant contributing factor for health disparities defined as preventable differences in health outcomes among segments of the population. In my upcoming masterclass, I will talk specifically about an egregious case in which a patient went undiagnosed for over a year because her healthcare team misdiagnosed her due to her weight. So, even though some healthcare providers might argue they don’t have time to learn about weight-inclusivity, I would say that the safety of our patients and clients depends on it.
Myth #2: Learning about weight inclusivity isn’t a priority.
In our current state of the world, where famines are happening around the globe and aid is being cut off from those most in need, I understand that some providers might argue that learning about weight-inclusivity isn’t an immediate priority. However, I would like to challenge that thinking by pointing out that healthcare providers cannot ignore that weight bias in healthcare directly impacts patient outcomes. Addressing weight bias can drastically improve patient adherence, satisfaction, and long-term health.
Another thing many healthcare providers don’t consider is that trust is eroded when our patients and clients think we’re treating them differently because of their weight. In a world where they’re constantly experiencing weight bias and stigma, we need to be the opposite of what they expect simply because it’s the right thing to do.
Myth #3: Weight loss is always necessary for health.
This couldn’t be further from the truth, however, there are reasons why this myth is so pervasive. For years, diet culture has worked hard to draw a connection between weight and its impact on health to avoid addressing the system that contributes to health disparities. By design, grocery stores are located where they are located and food deserts exist where they exist. It is by design that certain parks are safe for our children while others are filled with dangers. I’m not being a conspiracy theorist, but sharing the painful reality that a person’s zip code is a better determinant of their health than their weight.
When providers perpetuate the myth that weight loss is always necessary for health, they are intentionally ignoring the evidence that has proven the opposite. Despite the attempts to dismantle evidence-based insights beyond the outdated, weight-centric model, we have research to prove that Health at Every Size™ interventions are far more effective than the traditional weight loss model. Diet culture doesn’t profit from healthy bodies but from bodies always a pound away from a “healthier” life. We deserve better than that. We all desire care that looks at our health holistically, not just the number on the scale.
I have also believed in these myths for years, so I understand that making these shifts requires intentionality. I didn’t magically wake up one day and choose weight-inclusivity over the weight-centric model. Instead, I invested in education and training from people who were smarter than me. That allowed me to counter those myths and become more intentional as a health coach and educator.
That’s why I’m looking forward to our upcoming masterclass where I will talk more about the practical, evidence-backed strategies you can immediately apply to improve the care you provide to your patients and clients. Enrollment will open up very soon! For now, ensure you’re subscribed to be the first to know.
Talk soon,
Tomesha
P.S. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to transform your approach to patient care. My masterclass will launch soon, and I can’t wait to share it with you!
P.P.S. Like what you’ve read. You can always Buy Me a Coffee which puts a little “tip” in my virtual tip jar: https://buymeacoffee.com/enhanceblackwomenshealth