Confronting Weight Stigma: A Call to Action for Physical Therapy Educators

The prevalence of anti-fat bias in health care poses a barrier to equitable care for all individuals, particularly fat patients. Current health education models, including those in physical therapy, perpetuate myths and biases about weight and size that lead to negative patient outcomes. Addressing weight stigma in health professions education is pivotal to advancing social justice and health equity.

Weight stigma is rooted in multiple systems of oppression and negatively influences beliefs about weight, health, and wellness. Research indicates that providers and clinicians across multiple disciplines demonstrate anti-fat bias. These beliefs are established by the sociocultural environment and exacerbated by the predominant biomedical model in health education. In health care, discrimination due to anti-fatness leads to suboptimal care and poor outcomes for fat patients, including delayed or avoided care, denial of necessary treatments, misdiagnosis, stigma-induced coping behaviors, and physiological consequences. Empowering physical therapy educators to recognize and confront anti-fat bias is a crucial step to training future physical therapists to promote health equity for patients of all sizes.

Dismantling anti-fatness is critical to advancing health equity. Toward this effort, educators have an imperative to highlight the negative impact of weight stigma through curricular content that decouples the notion that weight equals health, promotes weight-inclusive education, and ensures accessibility for patients of all sizes.