Description

Mainstream health science has let you down. Weight loss is not the key to health, diet and exercise are not effective weight-loss strategies and fatness is not a death sentence. You’ve heard it before: there’s a global health crisis, and, unless we make some changes, we’re in trouble. That much is true–but the epidemic is NOT obesity. The real crisis lies in the toxic stigma placed on certain bodies and the impact of living with inequality–not the numbers on a scale. In a mad dash to shrink our bodies, many of us get so caught up in searching for the perfect diet, exercise program, or surgical technique that we lose sight of our original goal: improved health and well-being. Popular methods for weight loss don’t get us there and lead many people to feel like failures when they can’t match unattainable body standards. It’s time for a cease-fire in the war against obesity. Dr. Linda Bacon and Dr. Lucy Aphramor’s Body Respect debunks common myths about weight, including the misconceptions that BMI can accurately measure health, that fatness necessarily leads to disease, and that dieting will improve health.
They also help make sense of how poverty and oppression–such as racism, homophobia, and classism–affect life opportunity, self-worth, and even influence metabolism. Body insecurity is rampant, and it doesn’t have to be. It’s time to overcome our culture’s shame and distress about weight, to get real about inequalities and health, and to show every body respect.

Publisher Review

"It is profoundly important to address the shortcomings in health discourse, particularly when misinformation is harming the population. Body Respect is a ground-breaking, dogma-busting book that will change how you think about health forever." --Christopher Kennedy Lawford, New York Times bestselling author and former UN Goodwill Ambassador for Drug Treatment and Care "Linda and Lucy have written the rare self-help book that places the personal decisions about how to care for ourselves in the larger context of the world's unequal opportunities, judgment, and bias. Body Respect gives us a way to think about our decisions--especially the challenge of valuing ourselves in an indifferent or hostile world--and the concrete steps to feeling better in our bodies right now." --Deb Burgard, PhD, psychologist, eating disorders specialist, and HAES pioneer "In a world where positive, uplifting and scientifically grounded messages about weight are sorely lacking--Linda Bacon and Lucy Aphramor have given us a bright light of hope. Body Respect is a must-read book for anyone interested in the complex and timely topic of weight." --Marc David, M.A., author and founder of the Institute for the Psychology of Eating "Drs. Bacon and Aphramor have created a smart, engaging and compassionate guide that exposes why the 'eat less, exercise more' weight loss mantra fails so miserably, and how to achieve true health and wellness. Body Respect is transformative for the individual reader, as well as a wakeup call for the real public health crisis America faces: illness and suffering brought on by chronic stress associated with poverty, social inequality, oppression, and stigma." --Katja Rowell M.D., author of Love Me, Feed Me and childhood feeding specialist, thefeedingdoctor.com "This book is a must-read for those who struggle and who suffer from our culture's pervasively negative attitude towards fat...and for those who want to help them." --Anita Johnston, Ph.D., author of Eating in the Light of the Moon "With Body Respect Linda Bacon and Lucy Aphramor build on their impressive contributions to Health At Every Size. Whether you're a seasoned activist or new to the scene, this book will prove an invaluable addition to the literature debunking fatphobic health discourse. Body Respect is an essential tool for those seeking wellbeing without stigma." --Charlotte Cooper, PhD, psychotherapist