Understanding Weight Bias and its Impacts

Weight bias exists because people have and continue to benefit from it. Examples of the ways that people benefit from weight bias are:

• The multi-billion dollar diet and fitness industry
• Health workers claiming insurance by labelling overweight/obese procedures as medically necessary  
• Insurance companies using weight and height data (Body Mass Index) for the purpose of determining what to charge consumers. (People falling into ‘overweight’ and ‘obese’ categories are charged more) 
• Services and providers promoting weight loss programs 

The ways in which weight bias negatively impacts people are huge. Weight bias can impact all areas of a persons life including their health, career, education, social life, family life, ability to access goods and services such as clothing and travel, ability to access appropriate and affordable health care such as IVF treatments and the ability to feel safe in spaces that a person inhabits. 

‘Thinness’ and people in thin bodies are often associated with positive attributes and assumptions such as ‘better health’, ‘success’, ‘motivation’, ‘beauty’’and so on. While on the other hand, weight bias results in people associating negative attributes and assumptions with body fat and higher weight bodies that are often untrue and strongly based on societal constructs rooted in judgement and assumption. One of many examples include health professionals assuming that someone in a higher weight body automatically has worse health than thinner peers, or mustn’t try hard enough to eat well and/or exercise. When in fact, people in higher weight bodies have often spent years of their lives dedicated to dieting, weight loss, undereating and over-exercising. 

The damage this can cause is extensive. A person who experiences the negative social impact of weight bias has experienced ‘weight stigma’. Weight stigma has detrimental effects on a person’s physical, emotional and social health. People who experience weight stigma are more likely to experience:

• Depression, anxiety and mood disorders 
• Disordered eating and medically-diagnosed eating disorders
• Increased risk of substance abuse and suicidality
• Overweight and obesity 
• Metabolic conditions like type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure and liver disease 
• Health care avoidance due to fears of weight stigma
• Delayed health care
• Receiving inappropriate or lack of appropriate medical and health treatments (due to medical professionals relating it to a persons ‘weight’ rather than offering all treatment and intervention options that would otherwise be provided to thinner patients.) 
• Workplace discrimination, bullying and harassment 

Health care is one of the places that weight bias is prevalent within our society. Weight bias negatively impacts the health of people in larger and higher weight bodies through:

• People feeling berated and disrespected by health professionals. Often receiving unsolicited advice about their weight or weight loss advice at the most inappropriate times (for example, going to the GP for a cold and leaving with the advice to lose weight)
• People perceive they won’t be taken seriously because their health issues are often dismissed due to weight
• Weight is blamed for all of their problems, leading to delayed health or medical treatment as a result. Serious consequences can occur, such as delayed cancer diagnosis due to symptoms being put down to weight
• Parents of higher-weight children feel judged and blamed
• Individuals feel blamed for their weight status 
• Medications and drugs are often not developed and trialed for people in higher-weight bodies, leading to unsafe or inappropriate medication and treatment prescription  

An important note: shaming individuals for their body weight does not motivate positive behaviour change, it only increases body shame and body image concerns. While people may think that body dissatisfaction will motivate us to make healthy lifestyle changes, it actually does the opposite. Body dissatisfaction is associated with all of the above consequences of weight stigma, and heavily associated with disordered eating and eating disorders. 

1. Find health professionals or other providers that advertise ‘weight inclusive’, ‘health at every size’ or ‘non diet’ practices
2. Find providers or approaches that focus on health promoting behaviour and wellbeing, rather than weight – e.g. strategies that improve health and well-being are promoted, rather than focusing solely on reducing weight: 

• • Eating well to improve energy levels and mood
  • Cooking from home more to save money and improve diet quality 
  • Finding movement that you enjoy for improved mood and energy 
  • Focusing on what foods to ADD in rather than restricting foods e.g. adding in more plant foods: fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, wholegrains and legumes into the diet

      3. Look for practices that have weight-inclusive equipment and furniture e.g. blood pressure cuffs, appropriate-seating.
      4. Ask about treatment options for people in larger bodies OR ask what treatment would be available in the same context but for someone in a smaller body size.

We would also like to acknowledge that it is not fair that people in larger bodies need to advocate for themselves to receive appropriate and effective medical care. Eat for Life Dietetics is a Health at Every Size© aligned provider and we are committed to providing safe and effective advice to every BODY.

If you are someone who lives in a larger body and have feedback for something that we can improve on or do differently to help you to feel safe, comfortablae and cared for, we would love to hear from you.

• With Grace Therapy – An incredible team of experienced and accredited Social Workers and Therapists in Brisbane, who welcome diversity and are passionate about providing inclusive, person-centred, and evidence-based care. For more information use this link to check out their website.
• Held Counselling – Bridgette is an amazing counsellor who supports you to make peace with your body. To explore your body story, to un-pack and un-learn years of diet culture and to stop letting your size stop you from living the life you want. For more information use this link to check out the website.
• Hannah Salpietro, Exercise Physiologist – working out of The Joint, Nundah, Hannah provides exercise physiology services that empower her clients to form a healthy relationship with exercise and find joy and confidence through movement. She also runs mindful movement classes to support the mind-body connection. You can read more about Hannah here or check her out on instagram @themindfulep