Woden Healthy Eating Clinic owner and nutritionist Kate Freeman to go 'weight neutral'

Owner of Canberra's biggest dietetics practice, the Healthy Eating Clinic in Woden, Ms Freeman is part of a growing movement.

Her practice is now "weight neutral".

"Any dietary intervention that we give [patients] isn't given with the goal or the intention of losing weight," Ms Freeman said.

Ms Freeman said most of her career and academic studies had revolved around weight loss, but she now believes it has been unfairly credited with health outcomes that are actually due to changes in diet.

She expects some people will choose not to attend the clinic due to the "anti-cultural move".

"As a business owner, I certainly struggle between giving people what they want [and] what they need," Ms Freeman said.

"We won't suit everybody now, but I hope that we can actually present an alternative approach to people's long-term health and nutrition."

A size-inclusive approach to healthcare means focusing on healthy eating, strength and fitness rather than weight loss, Queensland University of Technology academic and founder of 'Health, Not Diets', Dr Fiona Willer, said.

Focusing on healthy behaviours is a more sustainable way to improve health outcomes, Dr Willer said.

"When we put the goal as a weight loss goal instead of a behavioural goal, what we do is give many people what is essentially an unattainable goal," she said.

Research shows that while people who establish healthy behaviours lose the same amount as those intentionally trying to shed kilos, they are more likely to maintain it, Dr Willer said.

The higher a person's weight, the more likely they are to develop conditions like heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and some cancers, according to the federal health department.

Being overweight is the second leading risk factor for premature mortality in Australia, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said.

While a person's size doesn't always tell "the full story", excess weight increases the risk of a range of health issues, University of Sydney obesity researcher Dr Nick Fuller said.

"People with a high amount of visceral fat, a type of especially unhealthy fat stored around the stomach [and] close to the organs, are at higher risk of disease than people who hold body fat around their hips," he said.

"You can be healthy at any size, but our weight still matters when it comes to overall levels of health. It's just not the only thing that matters."

There is a concerning pattern in Ms Freeman's practice rooms. She estimates about a third of clients have disordered eating - an unhealthy eating pattern - or an undiagnosed eating disorder.

About four per cent of Canberrans have an eating disorder.

Patients are screened by dietitians for eating disorders, and anyone with an active eating disorder is not at all suited for a weight loss plan, Dr Willer said.

Farah Muharam spent years trying to stay small.

"Developing an eating disorder at a young age [I] looked into those quick fixes, those pills, anything to stay a certain size or look a certain way. And I was never happy," she said.

Ms Muharam, who has endometriosis and polycystic ovary syndrome, was referred to Stefanie Lekkas at the Healthy Eating Clinic by a GP to help her lose weight.

She said that after three sessions, and without any prompting from her dietician, Ms Muharam realised that she had the wrong goal.

"When I first started this journey, I had thought that losing weight represents health. But actually, there's so much more to it," she said.

"Being diagnosed with chronic illnesses means the context of my body has changed completely. It's dealing with different things, and I want to have a better relationship with the body I have now."

Despite the name, dietitians - who must have an approved university degree and accreditation - do not promote fad diets, according to Dietitians Australia.

Dr Willer described diet culture as "the environment that we live in socially every day where we've got a world which puts thinner, more muscular ... people up on a pedestal."

Dieting to lose weight increases the risk of eating disorders and is associated with adverse health outcomes, according to the Butterfly Foundation.

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Dr Fuller, who runs a for-profit weight loss program, said most diets are "unsustainable and unnecessary".

"They fail to address our internal programming to regain weight," he said.

"We are biologically wired to protect our weight set point and research has proven that those who diet end up heavier than those who don't.

"People should focus on health, not weight. Healthy behaviours - not weight - make us healthy. Weight loss is often a positive 'side effect' of engaging in evidence-based lifestyle programs."

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