PROVIDING SENSITIVE CARE FOR PEOPLE OF ALL SIZES

To __________________________:

Your patient is providing you with this fact sheet because he or she would like your support in incorporating sustainable health habits as opposed to focusing on weight loss or restrictive eating.

Many people assume that weight loss is a prerequisite for good health. It’s not. Believing that it is leads many people to feel helpless about their health.

Despite admonitions to lose weight and a proliferation of weight-loss attempts, Americans aren’t getting thinner. Many people will continue to live out their lives in larger bodies. You can accept this and support them in being as healthy as possible.

Abundant research demonstrates that people can be healthy at any size, and health habits prove to be more important than weight. Please partner with your patient in celebrating his or her body and making choices that honor it.

Here’s the easy prescription:

1. Supply your patient with the same treatment you would provide to a thinner patient with a similar concern. Focus on treating the condition rather than the weight.

2. Show compassion for how difficult it is to live in a culturally stigmatized body. Support your larger clients in handling the unique challenges of their bodies.

Educate yourself about Health at Every Size. Attached is the Health at Every Size Manifesto, a short synopsis of the underlying issues. Join increasing numbers of professionals in this exciting new paradigm shift, making a difference in their patients’ lives.

Patient Name ___________________________________________

Excerpt from Health at Every Size: The Surprising Truth About Your Weight © 2008 by Linda Bacon.
May be freely distributed, provided that it remains in its entirety and this copyright message appears. More info at http://www.LindaBacon.org.