HAES is (finally) dying
9.2.2024: Health at Every Size (HAES, often pronounced hays) is dying. I have never thought it was a good concept or worthy of respect… but the entire concept has run up against the reality of obesity drugs— whether Wegovy™ or Monjauro™— the reality is that people taking these drugs feel better, are healthier and the only thing that's changed about them is that they have lost weight. Which according to HAES was not supposed to matter one bit.
This piece (really an exultation, because I was right all along) was prompted by this piece. The author is not anti-HAES, not really, but he does acknowledge that the "fat is healthy" argument of HAES really doesn't work. It's too obvious that weight loss (even by drugs) improves the health condition of those who are overweight or obese. His suggestion is that HAES people alter their arguments, I don't know that they can.
HAES was never based on reality, and suffered greatly when Lindo Bacon was forced to renounce her leadership of the movement. They have never found an expert to replace Bacon, Ragen Chastain wanted to be that replacement, but her academic background is not as stellar as Lindo Bacon's… and that kind of thing matters. I've written about the Lindo thing before, so I won't do it again here. Suffice it to say that once she stepped back (as demanded by the audience) the death of HAES was, if not assured, more likely.
The success of obesity drugs is what really sealed it for the HAES supporters though. Apparently a new paper on HAES has been published (because it is an academic specialty at this point) and the news is not good. HAES can help with hunger, but on no other score was it a net positive (this is interpreting the piece linked above, I have not read the paper. Nor will I. I have read HAES papers in the past, I find them tedious and more or lee bereft of the data supporting their points. They see what they want to see and disregard the rest (apologies to Paul Simon).
This piece (really an exultation, because I was right all along) was prompted by this piece. The author is not anti-HAES, not really, but he does acknowledge that the "fat is healthy" argument of HAES really doesn't work. It's too obvious that weight loss (even by drugs) improves the health condition of those who are overweight or obese. His suggestion is that HAES people alter their arguments, I don't know that they can.
HAES was never based on reality, and suffered greatly when Lindo Bacon was forced to renounce her leadership of the movement. They have never found an expert to replace Bacon, Ragen Chastain wanted to be that replacement, but her academic background is not as stellar as Lindo Bacon's… and that kind of thing matters. I've written about the Lindo thing before, so I won't do it again here. Suffice it to say that once she stepped back (as demanded by the audience) the death of HAES was, if not assured, more likely.
The success of obesity drugs is what really sealed it for the HAES supporters though. Apparently a new paper on HAES has been published (because it is an academic specialty at this point) and the news is not good. HAES can help with hunger, but on no other score was it a net positive (this is interpreting the piece linked above, I have not read the paper. Nor will I. I have read HAES papers in the past, I find them tedious and more or lee bereft of the data supporting their points. They see what they want to see and disregard the rest (apologies to Paul Simon).