First and foremost, health is a subjective term. It is considered ABC to one person, and XYZ to another. The word "health" is also extremely broad in context. Most commonly speaking, it is linked to the idea of a “healthy weight or healthy body size”. Truthfully, it is so-much more than that.
I first learned this during eating disorder recovery in 2018. Our therapy group discussed what “health” is, and what it looks like. Each person had their own thoughts and considerations. In the end, we learned that being “healthy” is highly individualized and tends not to be based on numbers at all.
In fact, the Registered Dietitian shared,
“dieting can increase health risks more-so than being overweight.”
Here's why: dieting is often linked to disordered eating behaviors and under-nutrition (which may result in poor physical or mental health). Whereas being well-nourished (sometimes considered "overweight" if using BMI) increases the likelihood of having a well-balanced state of physical, mental, and social health.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), health consists of:
“complete physical, mental, and social well-being, not merely the absence of disease.”
This reiterates my point in how mental, emotional, social, and even spiritual health are equally as important as physical health. Sadly, diet culture hyper focuses on body shape, weight loss, and being thin, rather than considering all aspects of well-being.
Healthy People 2020, an organization that develops objectives to improve the health of Americans, considers more factors regarding our overall health:
Economic Stability
Education
Social and Community Context
Health and HealthCare
Neighborhood and built environment
With this being said, numbers, like our BMI's or weight, really have little to do with our health. For future reference, I've attached a link to The Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2020-2025. This resource encourages health and wellbeing through a variety of aspects (including physical, mental, and social), for all ages. It is available online here -
Link: can be found online as a PDF.
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