There are a lot of resources out there to help people learn about Health At Every Size, intuitive eating, improving body image, and fat activism. Instead of making this an exhaustive list, I am going to curate this to include only the resources I myself have found most helpful. If you have suggestions, let me know!
Health At Every Size Articles
The Weight of the Evidence
This article is by Harriet Brown, author of the amazing book Body of Truth. It summarizes the key theses in Body of Truth in an easy-to-digest article format. Truth bombs abound. Read it first, and then get the book for even more.
The Fantasy Of Being Thin
Kate Harding is a fat activist that has contributed to the movement in many ways, including her popular blog, podcast, and book. In this article Kate explains why it’s so hard to give up on the fantasy of losing weight even after we learn why dieting doesn’t work. It’s a must-read. Kate doesn’t write much these days, but while you’re on her blog, check out her incredible archive.
Why You Can’t Lose Weight on a Diet
This is an article from Sandra Aamodt, a neuroscientist who has done research on the ways in which our bodies fight against dieting. This article is a quick way to grasp her theses; she also has a book and a TED talk.
Sugar: The Other White Powder – Rhetoric vs. Reality
This article by Jon Robison, who is well-known in Health At Every Size circles, explains why sugar isn’t addictive using incredibly rational arguments, all backed up with evidence. Whenever anyone says that sugar is addictive I point them to this article.
Ellyn Satter Institute
Ellyn Satter is one of the foremost authorities on children and eating. This site is a trove of information about how to teach children how to have a healthy relationship with food.
Fat Activists
There are numerous people doing great work in this space; it would be impossible to list them all. Here are a few of my favorites who are actively writing online. More to come soon!
Ragen Chastain (Dances With Fat)
Ragen is one of the most consistent and prolific writers about fat activism and Health At Every Size on the web. She continues to pump out incredible new content, but also note that her blog archives go back over a decade and are filled with posts that are just as useful today as they were when they were first written.
Jes Baker (The Militant Baker)
Jes is a fearless and fierce fat activist who, much like Ragen, pumps out incredible content at an amazing clip. She even wrote her own book called Things No One Will Tell Fat Girls. She is a must-follow kinda lady.
Virgie Tovar
Virgie is smart as HELL. I am envious of her education in sexuality, feminism and fat acceptance because she uses it like the sharpest of weapons to critique our diet-obsessed culture and help those living in our fatphobic world.
Your Fat Friend
The person who writes under the pseudonym “Your Fat Friend” is one of the most eloquent writers about fatness today. She writes with such emotion that I feel each of her essays inevitably creates ripples of empathy that support the fat cause. I am incredibly grateful for her contributions as a fat activist.
Stacy Bias
Stacy ROCKS and has created so many awesome and fun resources for the community, such as her Rad Fatty Merit Badges and her 12 Good Fatty Archetypes comic (which is one of my favorite pieces of fat activism EVER).
Fat Positive / Health At Every Size Organizations
Health At Every Size Community
This site is run by prominent Health At Every Size researcher and author Linda Bacon. It includes a registry of health care practitioners who practice HAES as well as other resources.
Association for Size Diversity and Health (ASDAH)
ASDAH is a professional organization supporting those who promote Health At Every Size principles. Although this site is first and foremost aimed at practitioners, they have many resources suitable for the public on their site, including their blog, which features prominent HAES thinkers on a regular basis.
National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance
From their website: “The National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance (NAAFA) is a non-profit, all volunteer, civil rights organization dedicated to protecting the rights and improving the quality of life for fat people.”
This website has a variety of resources for those looking to advance the rights of fat people. I wish it didn’t look like it was built in 1998 but don’t let that stop you from delving into their content.
