Body Image and Eating Disorders in the Helping Professions
Body Image and Eating Disorders in the Helping Professions examines frameworks and practical approaches to support individuals of all body sizes, focusing on eating disorders and body image concerns.
Summary
What you’ll be able to do
Define anti-fat bias, fatphobia, and healthism.
Identify key areas in which oppression against fat people permeates contexts across society.
Compare norms and experiences around food and body across cultural contexts and identities.
Recognize the racist roots of fatphobia.
Describe how intersectionality and one’s positionality are relevant in the fight for fat liberation.
Summarize the principles of the Health at Every Size (HAES) movement and Intuitive Eating (IE).
Summarize the eating disorders listed with the DSM 5-TR and critique the criteria for these disorders based on the information in other course readings and lived experience.
Compare and contrast medical and HAES/IE frameworks for conceptualizing and treating concerns related to body image and disordered eating.
Assess the connection between fatphobia, anti-fat bias and the perpetuation of body image concerns and disordered eating. Identify the institutions within society that profit from this relationship.
Develop a project at UW Madison to advocate on behalf of people struggling with challenges related to food security, disordered eating, body image, or anti-fat bias.
Integrate course materials and concepts with current academic emphasis and scholarship.
Source: UW Guide
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Prerequisites
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- Sophomore standing
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- Sophomore standing
Professors
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Student experience
the class
Frameworks, concepts, and practical approaches to support individuals of all body sizes, with a particular focus on those grappling with eating disorders and body image concerns. Critical topics such as the pervasive issue of weight bias; the complex relationship between identity, culture, and body image; the limitations and strengths of the medical model in treating eating disorders; the principles of Health at Every Size (HAES) and intuitive eating (IE); and the powerful role of advocacy and activism in challenging societal norms on small and large scales.
difficulty & workload
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Topics
- Weight bias and the relationship between identity, culture, and body image.
- Limitations and strengths of the medical model in treating eating disorders; principles of Health at Every Size (HAES) and intuitive eating (IE).
- The role of advocacy and activism in challenging societal norms.
Skills
- Defining anti-fat bias, fatphobia, and healthism; identifying oppression against fat people in societal contexts.
- Comparing norms and experiences around food and body across cultural contexts; describing intersectionality and positionality in fat liberation.
- Summarizing DSM 5-TR eating disorders and critiquing their criteria; comparing medical and HAES/IE frameworks for body image and disordered eating.
- Developing an advocacy project at UW Madison for issues related to food security, disordered eating, body image, or anti-fat bias.
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Explore recorded gradesRecorded 2026-10-14
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Model & dataset provenance
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