Weightism: Is Weight Bias Just As Harmful as Obesity?

Many people -- including those who are overweight themselves -- often view people with obesity as less human or less evolved.

In fact, weight bias increased by 66% between 1996 and 2006 in the United States, according to Rethink Obesity. This type of bias can lead to depression, low self-esteem, and body image distress.

One expert argued that the blows to self-esteem make it harder for people struggling with their weight to feel they can make meaningful change.

Those who experience weight-based stigmatization also:

Engage in more frequent binge eating
Are at an increased risk for eating disorder symptoms
Are more likely to have a diagnosis for binge eating disorder (BED)

Changing the Stigma

"The science is actually pretty straightforward; we know that feeling stigmatized because of your weight actually leads to weight increases," according to research fellow Inge Kersbergen. "Telling people to lose weight is a very poor way of getting people to lose weight."

"I have worked for many years to help my clinical colleagues provide constructive and compassionate weight-management counseling," says American Physician Dr. David Katz.

"Obesity bias, or weightism, by medical professionals or our society at large, is the literal addition of insult to injury," he adds.

Weightism does the predictable: It adversely affects self-esteem and undermines the effort required to control weight, Katz shares.

"In my own work, with adults and kids alike, I have found that the heavy burden of such insult needs to be set down first, and the pounds readily follow," he says.

According to National data from the 2017-2020 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 41.9% have obesity with Blacks having the highest level of adult obesity at 49.9%.

"It's time to address overweight with a lot more understanding, and curtail that injury," Katz says. "There is no place in the mix for the insidious harms of insult and prejudice."

Body acceptance groups and "fat activists" are also working to change perceptions toward people with obesity. But shaming those carrying many extra pounds, or even pointing out the health risks associated with the condition, has the opposite effect than intended, Kersbergen notes.

Dr. Scott Kahan, Director of the National Center for Weight and Wellness, agrees.

"Part of this stigma is rooted in a misunderstanding that obesity is a simple thing where people either just don't care or don't have enough willpower to manage their weight and should be stigmatized in hopes of motivating them to lose weight," says Kahan, who is the director of the National Center for Weight and Wellness in Washington, D.C.

"While many cases of weight bias are implicit and subtle, it's not at all uncommon for explicit stigma to occur, whether in health care settings, among family members and certainly in society at large," Kahan adds.

"We've made a lot of strides in addressing weight stigma over the last decade and this type of unfortunate, but impactful, result can hopefully further mobilize us all to pay more attention to weight bias in our society and support action toward addressing it," he says.

Overcoming weight bias

Do you unknowingly have weight bias? The first step in addressing weight stigma is to think about your own attitudes and assumptions about the weight of others.

You can start to change your attitude by doing the following:

Become aware. To learn if you have implicit bias, take the WEIGHT-IAT survey, which asks you to distinguish images of people who are described as ‘obese’ or ‘fat’ and people who are ‘thin’.
Speak with compassion. The words you use matter. Try not to categorize a person by their disease. Instead of saying “an obese person” try saying “a person with obesity”.
Show respect. Everybody deserves respect. If you notice inappropriate jokes or comments, say something. Also, remember to not blame a person for their weight. You don't know their story. A great way to avoid stigma is to shift your focus from weight to well-being.