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Don’t Diet: Adverse Effects of the Weight Centered Health Paradigm

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Modern Dietary Fat Intakes in Disease Promotion

Part of the book series: Nutrition and Health ((NH))

Key Points

• Basic tenets of the weight-centered health paradigm include the following: weight is within the control of the individual; weight is caused by a simple imbalance between an individual’s energy intake and energy usage; methods for successful and sustained weight loss include focusing specifically on changing eating and physical activity patterns; and losing weight to achieve “healthy weight” status will result in better health.

• Critics of the weight-centered health paradigm contend that the tenets are scientifically inaccurate and focusing on body weight is ineffective as a means to improve health or control body weight.

• The attitudes, behaviors and practices arising from the paradigm are harmful to health and well-being and are associated with the paradigm which includes dissatisfaction, dieting, discrimination and death.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Public Health, School of Health and Sport Sciences, University of the Sunshine Coast, Sippy Downs, QLD, Australia

    Lily O’Hara

  2. Health Promotion, School of Health and Sport Sciences, University of the Sunshine Coast, Sippy Downs, QLD, Australia

    Jane Gregg

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  1. Lily O’Hara
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Correspondence to Lily O’Hara .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Managing Director, DMF Ltd Company, Luxembourg Str 46, Marche/Famenne, 6900, Belgium

    Fabien De Meester

  2. Mel & Enid Zuckerman College of, Public Health, University of Arizona, Tucson, 85724-5163, Arizona, USA

    Sherma Zibadi

  3. Arizona Health Science Center, Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public, University of Arizona, 1501 N. Campbell Ave. Room 4335, Tucson, 85724-5155, Arizona, USA

    Ronald Ross Watson

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O’Hara, L., Gregg, J. (2010). Don’t Diet: Adverse Effects of the Weight Centered Health Paradigm. In: De Meester, F., Zibadi, S., Watson, R. (eds) Modern Dietary Fat Intakes in Disease Promotion. Nutrition and Health. Humana Press, Totowa, NJ. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-60327-571-2_28

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-60327-571-2_28

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