LONDON (NewsNation Now) — The United Kingdom’s edition of Cosmopolitan magazine highlights 11 women on “personal journeys to reclaim healthy as their own.”
The magazine turned the women into cover models with “This is healthy” splashed across each of their photos.
“It’s about time! It’s fantastic and I’m so excited to see Cosmo get on board,” said Stanford Healthcare psychologist Dr. Sarah Adler.
Dr. Adler has spent 15 years in the obesity and disordered eating field and said “healthy” does not come in one body shape or size.
“Really what makes us healthy or not healthy is the biometrics, it’s actually the physiology, so you can be a larger body size and actually be far more healthy than someone who has a body mass of 17 or 16 who is starving themselves or restricting,” she said.
Model and social media influencer Jada Sezer said in the article that she grew up with the misconception that fitness meant thinness. So, to shatter that misconception, in 2018 she decided to run a marathon in her underwear to promote body positivity.
Michigan State professor and licensed clinical psychologist Jennifer Johnson said the women highlighted in the article found ways to focus on what works for them — whether it be yoga, swimming, or rugby.
“There are many different aspects of health. I really liked that someone said that mental health is part of physical health. It didn’t just say what not to do it — showed eleven different people who found paths toward what to do: what they felt positive about, how they felt comfortable, how they made peace with themselves,” Johnson said.
Dr. Adler adds that it’s important to see different body types.
“Because really it’s a mirror of reality. For so long we have seen the media portray the same body type over and over and over again,” she said.
If you’re considering making lifestyle changes, it’s important to consult with your doctor and figure out what healthy means for you — while remembering there are multiple paths to being healthy.
Dr. Mary Ann Bauman, a board-certified primary care internist and author of “Fight Fatigue: Six Simple Steps to Maximize Your Energy,” joined NewsNation to continue the conversation. Watch our interview in the player below.