Health Doesn’t Have a Look
Written by Kalin Huberman, RD
Eating Disorders Awareness Week 2026
Here at The Nourish Collective, it is a year round commitment to advocate for more awareness around eating disorders, and Eating Disorders Awareness Week (EDAW) gives us the opportunity to come together as a community for such an essential cause.
The theme for EDAW 2026 is “Health Doesn’t Have a Look”.
While there are many harmful beliefs and misconceptions surrounding eating disorders, the idea that you can “tell” if someone is struggling based on their outward appearance is still commonly believed and deeply problematic.
Eating disorders can impact people of all genders, sexual orientations, ages, socioeconomic classes, abilities, races and ethnic backgrounds. However, because of this harmful belief, marginalized folks who are at higher risk of developing an eating disorder are often overlooked.
In honour of this year’s theme, we encourage you to reflect on your own perceptions of “health”. These ideas have been shaped and influenced by the messages and information you’ve taken in throughout your life, along with the intersections of your own identity that have influenced how you move through the world.
Consider the social determinants of health. The systems in which you’ve grown up within reduce health down to “nutrition” and “exercise”, and yet, there are so many factors that impact health.
Individual behaviour makes up 36% of what impacts our health, and this is much broader than what we eat or how we move - it includes other factors like level of participation in risk taking behaviour, smoking, and mood levels.
Social Determinants of Health, Source: https://www.goinvo.com/vision/determinants-of-health
We also encourage you to reflect on this perspective of health created by the Association for Size Diversity and Health (ASDAH):
"The Association for Size Diversity and Health (ASDAH) affirms a holistic definition of health, which cannot be characterized as simply the absence of physical or mental illness, limitation, or disease. Rather, health exists on a continuum that varies with time and circumstance for each individual. Health should be conceived as a resource or capacity available to all regardless of health condition or ability level, and not as an outcome or objective of living. Pursuing health is neither a moral imperative nor an individual obligation, and health status should never be used to judge, oppress, or determine the value of an individual".
EDAW 2026 Takeaways
Health is not a look, what you eat, what you weigh or how you move. It is so much more complex than that.
You cannot perceive a person’s health status and whether or not they are navigating an eating disorder by their outward appearance.
We can work together to shift the narrative on a larger scale, to ensure that folks who are struggling in silence can be seen and have the opportunity to heal with support.
If you or someone you love is in need of support, we are here to support you. Please reach out here or grab the free list of recovery resources by clicking the button below. For information on local events during EDAW 2026, please visit Eating Disorder Support Network of Alberta (EDSNA).
