Journal of Obesity & Weight Loss Therapy
Open Access

Weight stigma, also referred to as weight bias or weight-based discrimination, is discrimination or stereotyping supported a person’s weight. Weight stigma can increase body dis-satisfaction, it is a number one risk, think about the event of eating disorders. The best-known environmental contributor to the event of eating disorders is that the sociocultural idealization of thinness [1].

It is never acceptable to discriminate against someone supported their size, but shaming, blaming, and “concern trolling” happen everywhere – at work, school, within the home, and even at the doctor’s office. In fact, weight discrimination occurs more frequently than gender or age discrimination.

Weight stigma poses a big threat to psychological and physical health. It has been documented as a big risk factor for depression, body dissatisfaction, and low self-esteem. Those that experience weight-based stigmatization also:

• Engage in additional frequent binge eating

• Are at an increased risk for disorder symptoms

• Are more likely to possess a diagnosis for binge disorder (BED)

Victims of weight stigma report physicians and relations are the foremost common source of weight bias. Among relations, weight-based teasing and diet talk are linked to binge eating, weight gain, and extreme weight control behaviors. Weight bias in health care is another important concern [2].

Research shows that healthcare providers, when lecture obese patients, tend to:

• Provide them with less health information

• Spend less time with them

• View them as undisciplined, annoying, and noncompliant with treatment.

Recent estimates suggest that the prevalence of weight discrimination has increased by 66% over the past decade, and is now like prevalence rates of racism in America. Despite several decades of literature documenting weight stigma as a compelling social problem, this type of stigma is never challenged in North American society and its public health implications are primarily ignored. Instead, prevailing societal attributions place blame on obese individuals for his or her excess weight, with common perceptions that weight stigmatization is justifiable (and perhaps necessary) because obese individuals are personally liable for their weight, which stigma might even function a useful gizmo to motivate obese persons to adopt healthier lifestyle behaviors [2].

Weight stigma is probably going to drive weight gain and poor health and thus should be eradicated. This effort can begin by training compassionate and knowledgeable healthcare providers who will deliver better care and ultimately lessen the negative effects of weight stigma [3].

Ignoring weight stigma, the general public health community ignores substantial suffering of the many Americans. To effectively address the obesity epidemic and improve public health, it's essential to challenge common societal assumptions that perpetuate weight stigma, and prioritize discussions of weight stigma within the national discourse on obesity.