NEDIC Conference Journal 2018

A Weight Neutral Approach to Health and Wellness
Ann McConkey, RD amcconkey@womenshealthclinic.org
Lisa Naylor lnaylor@womenshealthclinic.org
Women’s Health Clinic, Winnipeg, Manitoba
Abstract
Ann McConkey is a Registered Dietitian and
Lisa Naylor is a counsellor in the Provincial Eating
Disorder Prevention and Recovery Program, a
community based program that serves all genders at
an inclusive feminist community health clinic. This
paper provides an overview of the workshop we
delivered at the 2017 National Eating Disorder
Conference. We present a model of care and
practice that addresses physical and mental wellness
for everyone, regardless of body size or current
health status, called Health At Every Size®. As HAES
® practitioners, we are committed to respect,
acceptance and the provision of appropriate care for
people of all shapes and sizes with an emphasis on
health-promoting behaviours and changes to
improve quality of life. We do this with consideration
for emotional, mental, spiritual and physical
wellbeing. This interactive workshop was intended to
share what we have learned about weight neutral
approaches to health and was designed for
educators, counsellors, dietitians, and other medical
care providers to challenge their own assumptions
about weight and health and to learn practical skills
to provide weight neutral health promotion,
education and care.
1. Introduction: Weight neutrality at
Women’s Health Clinic
Women’s Health Clinic (WHC) opened in 1983 in
Winnipeg, MB, Canada. In 1985, Catrina Brown
developed a program at WHC that she later wrote
about with Robyn Zimberg in Consuming Passions:
Feminist Approaches to Weight Preoccupation and
Eating Disorders. This program called, Getting
Beyond Weight, was the first in Canada to recognize
weight preoccupation as a feminist issue,
acknowledge body image and dieting as part of an
eating disorder continuum, and use nonpathologizing
approaches to address eating
disorders [1].
In the 33 years since the initiation of this
trailblazing program, WHC has continued to develop
and deliver numerous programs and educational
initiatives that promote body peace and body equity.
WHC also launched the first community based
treatment program in Manitoba for eating disorders,
which is unique in our weight neutral approach to
recovery. In addition to our eating disorder program,
WHC delivers a wide variety of services (i.e.
counselling, medical, abortion, midwifery, health
education, parenting, etc.) which allows our weight
neutral approach to impact on the health and
wellbeing of thousands of Manitobans.
The Board policy at WHC first reflected weightneutral
values in 1991. Eventually we adopted the
language and principles of the Health At Every Size®
movement culminating in the current WHC Health At
Every Size® Values Statement. To summarize the
values statement: Health at Every Size (HAES)® is an
evidence-based approach to reduce the risk for and
to treat chronic disease. HAES® encompasses
physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health
while challenging the assumptions about the
relationship between weight and physical health [2].
As HAES® practitioners we commit to promoting:
1. Body Inclusivity
2. Respectful Care
3. Eating for Wellbeing
4. Life-enhancing movement
5. Health enhancement, and
6. Advocacy [2]
These six commitments for our practice provided
the structure for our workshop at the NEDIC
Conference in 2017 and provide the framework for
this paper. This paper outlines our rationale for
utilizing a weight neutral approach, and our method
of implementation. To further explore, we offer
clinical observations from our practice. In addition,
this paper includes reflection questions that were
explored during the workshop to encourage selfreflection
of the reader. Self-reflection is key to
understanding how one’s practice has been shaped
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