Facing Challenges for Reducing Weight Stigma in Public Health Policy and Practice

The prevalence and harms of societal weight stigma have increased attention to its presence in public health approaches and communication. Calls to action from scholars, advocates, and health professionals emphasize the need to address weight stigma as a social justice issue and eliminate harmful narratives that perpetuate weight bias and discrimination in public health messages, practices, and policies. However, debates surrounding issues of weight stigma in public health complicate, and at times impair, efforts to effectively address this problem. Different (and sometimes opposing) perspectives include views about the health risks versus stigma effects of high body weight, the use of body mass index (BMI) as a metric of health, weight-normative (i.e., weight-centric) versus weight-inclusive treatment approaches, stigmatizing language used to describe body weight, and potential challenges when framing obesity as a disease. This review summarizes the current evidence, debates, and best practices related to weight stigma in public health efforts.