Dr. Sonneville is an Associate Professor in the Department of Nutritional Sciences at the University of Michigan. A registered dietitian, behavioral scientist, and public health researcher, she focuses on the prevention of eating disorders among children, adolescents, and young adults. Dr. Sonneville uses a weight-inclusive framework to study how to promote health and well-being without inadvertently increasing body dissatisfaction, disordered eating, and weight stigma.
March 1, 2022
How did you become interested in food and health?
I always assumed I should/would become a doctor because I enjoyed science and math and wanted to make a difference in people’s lives. I was introduced to the field of dietetics as a pre-med student and knew that was the right path for me after learning about the wide range of jobs dietitians (not just clinical!) could have. Early in my training, I was inspired by dietitians who promoted Health at Every Size and was influenced by close friends who had eating disorders. It was these experiences that catapulted me in the direction where I have landed today.
What caused you to center a weight inclusivity approach into your work?
I became particularly passionate about weight inclusivity early in my career as a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN). I started my career working in eating disorder treatment, and I noticed that the way we were talking about food, nutrition, and bodies in those settings really differed from how these topics were discussed in other settings. In my eating disorder work, we embraced bodily autonomy and body acceptance. We avoided dichotomizing food as “good” or “bad” or “healthy” or “unhealthy,” and acknowledged that the value of food is multifaceted (i.e. taste, culture, cost, nutrition). These messages were exactly the opposite of the weight-centered paradigm that was a big part of my training. It was the dissonance in these ideas that drew me to public health. I wanted to understand how we can be more inclusive in the way we promote health for people of all sizes.
Throughout your career, are there particular people, authors, articles or documentaries that have greatly influenced you and your work?
I was first introduced to Health at Every Size (HAES) during my undergraduate program by an anti-diet dietitian. Around that same time, I watched a documentary called Slim Hopes, which featured a lecture with Jean Kilbourne about advertising & the cultural obsession with thinness. It was so influential to me at the time because it was the first time that I had ever questioned the way that we just talk about food and bodies as “good” or “bad.” Since then, I have tried to interrogate the problematic moral framing and “all or nothing” thinking when it comes to food that is used in public health.
I teach a course this semester called “Weight Bias and Health” in which students read a seminal paper on weight inclusivity by Dr. Tracy Tylka and a couple of papers by Dr. Jeff Hunger. They’re scholars who I admire because of how they apply weight-inclusive frameworks to systems, including health care and public health, that perpetuate weight bias. I also get a lot of inspiration and insights from podcasts. Two thought-leaders who are standouts for me are Marquisele Mercedes and Da’Shawn Harrison, who are two of the co-hosts of the Unsolicited: Fatties Talk Back podcast. They are writers, activists, and scholars that speak and write about the intersection of anti-fat bias and anti-blackness. They are incredibly insightful in their critiques of systems that uphold anti-fat bias and are must follows on Twitter.
Which Food Literacy for All session has been your favorite so far?
I loved that you all brought Marilynn Wann last week (see video here). I bought her book Fat!So?, in the late 90’s when I was first introduced to HAES and the fat liberation movement and still have her book on my shelf. Before her sessions, she and I exchanged emails and discussed the weight bias class I am currently teaching. I honestly got chills when I saw her email in my inbox! Maryilnn Wann is a person who was formative early in my thinking, so to have her be a part of the discussion here at the University of Michigan and to talk with her about my work was so exciting.
Tell us about your current research interests and classes that you teach.
My research program is heavily influenced by my clinical work and is focused on how we can best promote health and well-being without inadvertently increasing body dissatisfaction, disordered eating, and weight stigma. I am particularly interested in eating disorders prevention and weight-related communication. I am studying how we can best engage in conversations about health and how centering weight in those conversations may negatively impact the patient. In my work, I seek to answer questions like: “How can we make the healthcare environment less hostile and stigmatizing for patients?” and “How might de-centering weight in conversations about health influence engagement in health-enhancing behaviors?” I am also studying harmful stereotypes about eating disorders. Eating disorders affect people of all genders, all body sizes, all backgrounds, yet there are disparities in access to treatment that negatively impact people with eating disorders who don’t fit the “SWAG” (skinny white affluent girl) stereotype.
I teach three courses: Nutrition Counseling (NUTR 646),Eating Disorders Treatment and Prevention (NUTR 621) and Weight Bias and Health (NUTR 622). I’m so lucky to teach classes that are so related to my research because it allows me to engage with my research ideas in a classroom setting with students who are similarly passionate about these topics.
What food systems policy initiative are you most passionate about?
I’m most passionate about policies that increase food access and prevent food insecurity. An increase in SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefits is an appealing policy because food scarcity and food insecurity is related to health and is an adverse experience that can have a long-lasting effect. One of my PhD students, Mikayla Barry, is working on her dissertation focused on food insecurity and disordered eating. Her research shows that having early experiences of food insecurity increases the notions of food scarcity and people’s relationship with food
