Jun 30, 2021Member-onlyHow Neoliberalism Sneaks into Critical Public HealthTen years ago I co-authored an article (with Lindo Bacon) where we unintentionally gave neoliberalism a stamp of approval. Our bad. You can read more here. It’s relevant today because it’s still being used to support a critical public health approach intent on ending oppression. …Public Health5 min read
Jun 30, 2021Member-onlyHey! Are You One the 401k Readers Misled by Our HAES Theory?In the decade since this co-authored article (with Lindo Bacon) supporting Health At Every Size (HAES) was published it’s had over 401k hits. I wanted it open access because I wanted it to have reach. And my investment paid off — great! …Social Justice12 min read
Jun 11, 2021Member-onlyReimagining Nutrition Narratives For Fat Black Children Like Ma’Khia BryantWe are not born desiring or rejecting bodies according to their particular dimensions. We are not born loathing or fearing or being comfortable with our own and other people’s thin or fat bodies. We are educated into these feelings. In other words, our body responses, which register as sensations, affect…Fat6 min read
Jun 2, 2021Member-onlyConnected Eating Is To Eating As Wild Swimming Is To SwimmingNew Pool Hollow is a 25 minute walk away. It’s a small disused reservoir. It was reliably a quiet place for wild swimming until featured in the Sunday Times as a quiet place for wild swimming. During the lockdown summer I met my friend Liz for a weekly dip. Liz…Food Justice5 min read
Apr 19, 2021Member-onlyThe Worst Impact of Anti-Fat Strategy Isn’t ‘Unhealthy Behaviours’ It’s Early Death and SufferingUK news is that BMI-based healthcare has been formally recognised as harmful. Wowee. That’s great. This questioning happened off the back of a report called “Changing the perfect picture: an inquiry into body image.” Well, more accurately, it’s off the back of the courage and pain and scholarship and tenacity…Social Justice4 min read
Apr 16, 2021Member-onlyBMI, Witch Hunts, White Duplicity and “Changing the Perfect Picture”The UK parliament report ‘Changing the Perfect Picture’ shares findings of research into the causes and consequences of ‘negative body…Body Image4 min read
Mar 26, 2021Member-onlyIf we want social justice, we have to do more than widen the existing lensLike millions of other people, I was taught that trees compete with each other for nutrients and space and light. Rapid tree growth was a sign of success. The text book said that planting trees at some distance apart would maximise yields. The worth of a tree started when it…Social Justice3 min read
Mar 15, 2021Member-onlyDesigning Dietetics For White Wellbeing Impedes Racial Justiceor Who Says Food Isn’t Medicine? The exhortation ‘food isn’t medicine’ is doing the rounds on social media again. It’s posted by healthcare professionals who share a concern about the impact of nutritionism, strongly allied with diet culture. Good. All food workers should raise awareness of harmful practices that masquerade…Food Justice4 min read
Jan 5, 2021Member-onlyWhat’s Wrong in Saying ‘Trust a Dietitian’?The chairperson of a dietetic association said my blog post condemning weight conversion, aka dieting, was bringing the profession into disrepute and told me to remove it. Or else. Lots of dietitians, me included, believe that it is the silence, not the speaking up, that brings the profession into disrepute…Fat Activism9 min read
Jun 9, 2020Member-onlyEight Signs of White Supremacy in HAES (Health at Every Size) and Ideas for ActionRecent coverage of racist killings by police and civilians and racialized death rates from Covid have reignited awareness of the need for ideological integrity and strategy. If your work dismantling diet culture stopped feeling relevant as part of the call to prioritise anti-racist action then the work you are doing…Black Lives Matter8 min read