University of the Sunshine Coast

Faculty Member, School of Health and Sport Sciences

About

As a health promotion practitioner I am particularly interested in the actual health impacts of programs that are designed to improve people's health. Sounds obvious really, but the problem is that some health promotion programs, such as those framed as 'obesity prevention' are in fact potentially very damaging to health. No one that works in these programs means to cause harm. In fact everyone I've ever met in health promotion cares very deeply about helping people improve their health. However the evidence is now emerging that the war on 'obesity' is in fact a very dangerous war indeed.

My research is therefore focused on evaluating the limitations and potential harms of 'obesity' focused programs at the individual and population level. I examine these programs through the lens of the values and principles of modern health promotion.

The other arm of my research work is focused on the design, implementation and evaluation of weight neutral health promotion programs that are consistent with the values and principles of Health at Every Size.