NEDA (National Eating Disorders Association) have been in hot water what seems like recently, but actually they have been disappointing people for a while now. If you have seen posts on social media and aren’t sure what the whole story is I have you covered today. I am talking about NEDAs anti-fatness, the firing of fat lib senior leader, a disastrous AAP guidelines response, the terrible experience of fat community members, alleged union-busting, the harmful chatbot Tessa, calling community members liars and ignoring them and finally questions around conflict of interest. PHEW! Buckle up, we are in for a ride! .
Want to listen to a podcast detailing the information below and more? Check out the Fierce Fatty Podcast, episode 170 The Full NEDA Controversy Explained.
The Timeline
NEDA Incidents Explained
1) History Of Anti-Fatness
NEDA was founded in 2001. Their website explains, “The National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) is the largest nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting individuals and families affected by eating disorders.”
NEDA has been called out for a long time because they appear to only care about thin young white women and not the most marginalized folks. They have previously collaborated with anti- " ob*sity” organizations, and the fat community has continually tried to educate them about why their anti-fatness is harmful.
2) They Hired And Then Fired A Fat Person In A Senior Role
The fat community was hopeful when a senior fat eating disorder expert was appointed to a senior role only to be disappointed yet again when she was seemingly fired for no reason.
“For a brief time, they brought on Chevese Turner, founder of the Binge Eating Disorder Association, and it looked like they might be turning things around in terms of intersectional work. Then Chevese was summarily fired without explanation”. - Ragen Chastain
3) They Failed To Condemn AAP Guidelines That Will Kill Fat Kids
The American Academy of Pediatrics came out with guidelines in Jan. 2023 recommending that kids be put on intensive diets, be given weight-loss drugs and have stomach amputation surgery.
Leading ED organizations all came out to say how horrific these guidelines were. NEDA stayed silent until a month later, releasing a milquetoast statement saying nothing in particular, only due to pressure from the community. Unconfirmed yet deeply suspicious allegations have come to light that NEDA knew about the guidelines in advance and are/were working alongside the AAP.
4) Lived Experience Taskforce/Free Fat Labour
Nia Patterson @thefriendIneverwanted and Sharon Maxwell @heysharonmaxwell both shared their bad experiences with NEDA.
Nia’s insights were refused and ignored as a member of the Lived Experience Taskforce at NEDA and Nia eventually had to resign due to the way they were treated.
Sharon was not compensated for any work after she was asked to be a host for a regional walk where she had to honour Aerie (a company that is not inclusive) for their financial contribution. Sharon’s concerns were ignored and promises were broken by NEDA.
5) Alleged Union Busting
NEDA had a helpline for the last 20 years. Its staff unionized, and 4 days later they were fired.
“We asked for adequate staffing and ongoing training to keep up with our changing and growing Helpline, and opportunities for promotion to grow within NEDA. We didn’t even ask for more money. When NEDA refused, we filed for an election with the National Labor Relations Board and won on March 17. Then, four days after our election results were certified, all four of us were told we were being let go and replaced by a chatbot.” - Abbie Harper - labournotes.org
6) The Chatbot, Tessa, Gives Out Harmful Advice
Tessa was created in a lab that is run by someone who believes that ED recovery & weight loss can coexist. Sharon Maxwell and others tested out the new chatbot. After telling Tessa about having an ED, the chatbot shared how to lose weight, calorie restriction, using skin callipers, and weekly weigh-ins, among many other alarming messages.
NEDA responded by calling Sharon a liar and claiming the accusations came from “bad actors” before admitting there may be problems with the bot.
7) Conflicts Of Interest
Questions have since been raised about how much NEDA knew about the harm of the bot before it was released to the public, reports have shown they knew it caused harm. Also, Sharon Maxwell points out that 4 of the 7 of NEDA’s Research Advisory Council Members are invested in anti-fat bias through their work, one even being on the advisory board for Noom (a weight loss company).
A trusted source has confirmed that there are “COUNTLESS lies NEDA has told and is currently caught in” that will come to light in the near future.
It’s time to #LeaveNEDABehind
Here are some ED organizations to follow instead:
@projectheal
@fedupcollective
@alliancefored
@NalgonaPositivityPride
@recoverwithmeda
@anadhelp
@bodyreborn
@recoverywithmeda
International Federation of Eating Disorders Dietitians (https://ifedd.org/)
Want to listen to a podcast detailing the information below and more? Check out the Fierce Fatty Podcast, episode 170 The Full NEDA Controversy Explained.
About the Author:
Vinny Welsby (they/them) is a fat activist, diversity, equity and inclusion leader and founder of Fierce Fatty and Weight Inclusive Consulting. They have been a leading voice in dismantling anti-fat bias and diet culture for over a decade, a TEDx speaker, a podcast host, and a master's student in psychotherapy. Vinny is trans-non-binary and is dedicated to shifting how society views fat and queer bodies through education and compassion.
When Vinny isn’t talking about DEI stuff, they love snuggling with their dog, cross-stitching swear words and singing in a pop choir.
Follow Vinny on Instagram, Facebook or LinkedIn or get their free resources: the Body Image Recovery Handbook or How to Make Your Workplace Size Inclusive (or check out many other free resources here).