This is an I-Heart podcast.

This is Solvable.

I'm Ronald Young, Jr.

If your goal is health, but your body doesn't change, if your body size does not change,

or even worse in your mind, your body size gets bigger, will you still want to pursue health?

Is that enough for you?

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced many of us to consider our health in new ways, from reporting on

our physical vulnerabilities and examinations of pre-existing conditions, to the stories

highlighting mental health and our loss of human connections. Just what health is can be

complicated to define. In the United States, there's an often repeated idea that body size and

overall health are linked. That oversimplification can be problematic. Seventy-nine percent of

weight loss program participants report coping with weight stigma by eating more food, and eating

disorders have the second highest mortality rate of all mental

health disorders surpassed only by opioid addiction. That's according to the National Eating

Disorders Association. For me, I base my health on my blood work, on my consistency with going

to the doctor. For me, it's how much sleep am I getting? How much connection

am I getting in my relationships rather than am I eating enough fruits and vegetables and am I exercising?

Brie Campos used to work in an eating disorder clinic. She worked to help her young female clients

to restore their weight, but she wanted to spend even more time helping them to redefine

their relationships with food and their bodies.

I think it scares the American public. We live in constant disarray with our relationship with food,

and it's actually to a point of bonding. Like, we often connect around feeling bad about our bodies or feeling bad about food or, oh, I'm on a, I'm cheating today.

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