Facebook Group Guidelines

The following guidelines apply to the Weight Inclusive Dietitians in Canada (WIDIC) Facebook Group

Welcome!

This Facebook group is for Canadian dietitians, dietetic students, and interns currently practicing, transitioning their practice to, or simply curious about a weight-inclusive approach.

Weight-inclusive care challenges the common but erroneous belief that health is predicated on body weight. One of the key differences between a weight-inclusive approach and conventional care is that the former rejects weight management as a health intervention. Weight management perpetuates weight stigma by pathologizing body size, as well as increases the risk of weight cycling and disordered eating, thereby causing harm and contributing to worse health outcomes.

A weight-inclusive approach works to promote overall well being, regardless of a person’s size. The term “weight-inclusive” (rather than “weight neutral”) describes an active position to include all weights and bodies in care. This approach is rooted in social justice, particularly the fat activism, fat acceptance, and body liberation movements. Practitioners aim to increase equity and access to people of all sizes and identities by avoiding stigmatizing and oppressive practices, working to undo the harm caused by these practices, and advocating for anti-oppression and increased access to safe and equitable resources in the world at large.

This group strives to be a space where we can support each other and learn together, while respecting members’ safety, particularly folks made marginalized by mainstream discourse. With that in mind, we cannot guarantee a “safe space”, nor do we promote a “brave space.” Instead, we aspire to be an “accountable space,” as inspired by the Association for Size Diversity and Health (ASDAH)’s Community Agreements.

As such, we ask you to respect the following guidelines:

This is a space that is meant to be inclusive of all identities, including size, ethnicity, gender, religion, sexual orientation, ability, etc. With that in mind, please be aware of your own privileges as you enter this space, and approach each other with kindness, compassion and respect.

While this is meant to be a learning space, it is not a space to debate the validity of weight-inclusive care and its related paradigms, or to uncritically promote weight loss/weight management methods.

Supporting our weight-inclusive community is very important to us, as is ensuring that this is a space for community and discussion, not just marketing our services and offerings. If you would like to promote your services/offerings, please check in with admin (Vincci TL or Grace F-W) via DM.

The language that we choose can be a way in which we communicate our values. As a group that stands against the pathologizing of body size and shape, please consider in your posts/comments whether describing a person’s body size is relevant, and if so, the words that are chosen as descriptors. For example, many weight-inclusive practitioners choose to avoid using the “o-words” (o***ty and overw****t) as the etymology and concepts behind the words are stigmatizing, and as a way to communicate an active stance against the harms of weight stigma, particularly in the medical community.

Please add a content warning (CW) or trigger warning (TW) at the beginning of posts that may contain triggering content, indicating the broad themes of what might be triggering (i.e. use of o-words, fatphobic language, disordered eating thoughts/behaviours, trauma, etc.) and add a few extra lines in between so that a person needs to click “Read More” before they read the post. If you are posting potentially triggering external content, please embed the link in the comments.

As a way to keep yourself safe, you may choose to use “post boundaries”. What this may look like might be adding a note at the end of the post regarding the type of feedback that you are looking for/not looking for, indicating if/when you plan to respond to comments, etc.

We are all bound to make mistakes as we continue to learn and grow in our practice. If you see something that is triggering, upsetting, or does not comply with these guidelines, please speak up and/or flag our admin. If you are being called in/out, please listen, accept the feedback, and spend some time to self-reflect and educate yourself on the matter instead of being defensive or expecting others to do the emotional labour of educating you.

Please refrain from deleting posts and comments, especially if others have already commented/replied. Instead, consider editing your post/comment, which will preserve the rest of the thread.

You can delete all of the text in your post/comment and replace it with “[Deleted]”, “-” or “.” Or, if you would like to add to or change what you wrote, you can indicate that the post/comment has been edited by typing in “Edited to add/ETA” or “[Edited]”

**An exception to this rule would be if there is a double-post, but if you’re ever unsure, just let the admins be in charge of deleting posts/comments.

Please respect the privacy and safety of those in the group by not sharing posts or comments made by others (including links, screenshots, or copy-and-paste) outside of the group without their consent. However, there are limitations to Facebook as a platform in terms of privacy, safety, and accessibility. By participating in this group, you are acknowledging the limitations of this platform while helping to create a space that is as safe and accessible as possible.

Failure to comply with the above guidelines can result in being removed from the group. Please note that these guidelines will likely continue to grow and evolve. Thank you for your understanding!

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