Optimizing prevention programs and maximizing public health impact are not the same thing

Call me pessimistic, but I am concerned that current approaches to reducing the public health burden of body dissatisfaction (BD) and eating disordered behaviour (EDB), in which efforts are focused on prevention of new cases of the most severe disorders, are unlikely to achieve the large-scale impact that we all agree is needed. The article by Austin (Austin, 2015), which I had the opportunity to review prior to writing the current piece, exemplifies such a focus and I shall use it in the current contribution to highlight my concerns, while also outlining my thoughts about the sort of alternative approach that I believe will be needed to achieve such impact.