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Nutrition Approach

Normal Operating Hours
Monday - Friday: 8am-5pm
Schedule Online
After Hours & Emergencies
Location & Hours

What to Expect During Your Appointment

Nutrition care is tailored to each individual; we partner with you to offer guidance while you keep ownership of your personal goals. Your first appointment with a dietitian will last for one hour. This assessment will include a review of your health history, eating and activity patterns, and lifestyle factors relevant to your nutrition-related goals. We will then work together to determine next steps to address your needs. This may involve:

  • Exploring information - using evidence-based nutritional science, sorting myths vs facts
  • Building skills - budgeting, planning, preparing, and selecting nutritionally sound meals & snacks
  • Examining beliefs - identifying choices consistent with your values, exploring your relationship with food
  • Developing behavioral strategies - creating actionable plans, determining effective practices

Follow-Ups

Follow-up appointments last about 30 minutes. These sessions will focus on the supports and barriers you are facing while working to achieve your nutrition-related goals.

Course of Care

In an effort to ensure adequate and appropriate nutrition counseling for all students who seek it, anywhere from one to 12 sessions may be offered. Students who would benefit from a longer duration or more intensive course of nutrition counseling may be referred to another registered dietitian in the community. Exceptions to this policy may be made in extenuating circumstances on a case-by-case basis. The dietitian will work with each patient individually to determine the appropriate plan of care.

Our Approach

Our nutrition services are grounded in a health forward, weight neutral approach.1

A health forward, weight neutral approach is about supporting the well-being of individuals and communities, independent of weight.

  • Regardless of weight change, practicing health enhancing behaviors (eating nutritious foods, engaging in enjoyable exercise regularly, etc) improves wellbeing and reduces risk for chronic disease.2, 3
  • Health is multifaceted and cannot be inferred from weight. Data show that nearly half of people who are in the “overweight” category of Body Mass Index (BMI) are metabolically healthy and about 30% of “normal weight” individuals are not.4
  • Sustained weight loss through dieting is unattainable for the vast majority of people.5, 6
  • Weight loss dieting increases risk for rebound and/or binge eating, weight gain, and disordered eating.7, 8
  • Weight stigma threatens psychological and physical health, impedes the implementation of effective prevention efforts, and exacerbates health disparities. Confronting weight bias challenges stigma.9

As Health At Every Size 10 practitioners, we advocate for an accessible, non-stigmatized healthcare environment for all.  Our nutrition philosophy is centered on:

  • Enjoyment – taking satisfaction in the sensory pleasure of food (aroma, appearance, texture, taste)
  • Connection – the role of food in relationships, culture, faith, ritual, tradition, self-expression
  • Social justice – food security (access to affordable, safe, culturally appropriate food), sustainability
  • Food as medicine – therapeutic diet strategies to address medical conditions
References

REFERENCES

  1. Tylka, T.L., Annunziato, R.A., Burgard, D., Danielsdottir, S., Shuman, E., Davis, C., and Calogero, R.M. (2014). The weight-inclusive versus weight-normative approach to health: evaluating the evidence for prioritizing well-being over weight loss. Journal of Obesity, 2014, 1-18. doi: 10.1155/2014/983495
  2. McAuley, P.A., and Blair, S.N. (2011). Obesity paradoxes. J Sports Sci., 29(8), 773–78 doi: 10.1080/02640414.2011.553965
  3. Kant, A.K., Leitzmann, M.F., Park, Y., Hollenbeck, A., Schatzkin, A. (2009). Patterns of recommended dietary behaviors predict subsequent risk of mortality in a large cohort of men and women in the United States. J Nutr., 139(7), 1374–1380. doi: 10.3945/jn.109.104505
  4. Tomiyama, A.J., Hunger, J.M., Nguyen-Cuu, J., and Wells, C. (2016). Misclassification of cardiometabolic health when using body mass index categories in NHANES 2005-2012. Int J Obes (Lond), 40(5), 883-886. doi: 10.1038/ijo.2016.17
  5. Ikeda, J., Amy, N.K., Ernsberger, P., Gaesser, G.A., Berg, F.M., Clark, C.A., Parham, E.S., Peters, P. (2005). The National Weight Control Registry: a critique. J Nutr Educ Behav, 37(4), 203–20 doi: 10.1016/S1499-4046(06)60247-9
  6. Wing, R. R. and Phelan, S. (2005). Long-term weight loss maintenance. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 82(1), 222S–225S. doi: 10.1093/ajcn/82.1.222S
  7. Polivy, J. and Herman, C.P. (1985). Dieting and binging: A causal analysis. American Psychologist,  40(2), 193–201. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.40.2.193
  8. Schaumberg, K., Anderson, D.A., Anderson, L.M., Reilly E.E., and Gorrell, S. (2016). Dietary restraint: what's the harm? A review of the relationship between dietary restraint, weight trajectory and the development of eating pathology. Clinical Obesity, 6(2), 89-100. doi: 10.1111/cob.12134
  9. Puhl, R.M., Heuer, C.A. (2010). Obesity stigma: Important considerations for public health. American Journal of Public Health 100(6), 1019-1028. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2009.159491
  10. Health At Every Size Principles (2019, July 1). Retrieved from www.sizediversityandhealth.org