OAS Position Statement

Weight stigma is defined as the negative views and stereotypes associated with excess weight. Common stereotypes of people living with overweight and obesity include that they are lazy, lack willpower, and are unintelligent.¹ Weight stigma is related to weight bias which is defined as ‘discrimination towards an individual due to their body weight’.² Both of these phenomena negatively impact the lives of many people living with obesity and create serious barriers to achieving the public health goal of reducing and preventing obesity in Scotland and around the world.

Stereotyping and discrimination of people living with obesity exists across society, in families, and even in healthcare settings where people should feel comfortable accessing support.³ It exists largely because the wider public lack the full understanding of the complexity and causes of overweight and obesity.¹ Evidence shows that numerous interconnected factors contribute to the development of excess weight, such as genetics, people’s local environment, and the type of foods people are able to access (financially and/or physically).⁴ These factors are often largely out of an individual’s control. However, public discourse currently places the responsibility of living with obesity solely with individuals and their willpower.¹ Concerningly, those who face stigma often face worse physical and mental health outcomes, as well as being less likely to seek support.² Furthermore, weight stigma creates barriers to participation and access to support as people can feel uncomfortable talking about the issue. In turn, this can stop us addressing the root causes of overweight and obesity for which we do have evidence and answers.  

The best way to address weight stigma is to communicate the true nature of obesity and its many causes to the public, health and care professionals, and other relevant groups.¹ This conversation should highlight that an individual-level policy approach is not effective at reducing national obesity rates, and that instead a focus on equitable, population-level public health interventions would have the most impact.^4,5

As raising awareness and understanding is one of Obesity Action Scotland’s core aims, it is vital that we adopt the highest standards in our communications to avoid perpetuating stigma, while leading others to do the same. We have carried out thorough internal examinations of our own language, familiarised ourselves with the latest evidence on non-stigmatising communications, and attended workshops on how to best communicate the wider issue of obesity to increase support for change. From these learnings, we are proud to commit to the following communication practices with the aim of helping to reduce weight stigma across society:

• Using person-first language in all of our internal and external communications (e.g. people living with obesity)
• Identifying when stigmatising language is used by others and supporting change in their communications
• Using non-stigmatising imagery and provision of links to non-stigmatising image banks on our website for use by general media outlets
• Avoiding use of combative language which has negative connotations
• Focusing more on the positive health outcomes for individuals of accessible, nutritious diets as opposed to negative outcomes of overweight and obesity

We recognise that weight stigma is an emerging area of the evidence base and as such this position statement will be kept under review and updated as necessary.

References

1. World Obesity – Our Policy Priorities – Weight Stigma. Accessed via: https://www.worldobesity.org/what-we-do/our-policy-priorities/weight-stigma. Last accessed 08/06/2022
2. The British Dietetic Association (BDA) – Resource Library - Why the government's new strategy for obesity needs to avoid weight stigma. Accessed via: https://www.bda.uk.com/resource/why-the-government-s-new-strategy-for-obesity-needs-to-avoid-weight-stigma.html. Last accessed 08/06/2022
3. Fruh, S.M., Nadglowski, J., Hall, H.R., Davis, S.L., Crook, E.D. and Zlomke, K., 2016. Obesity stigma and bias. The Journal for Nurse Practitioners, 12(7), pp.425-432.
4. Tackling obesities: future choices—project report. The Stationery Office, London 2007 http://www.foresight.gov.uk/Obesity/obesity_final/Index.html
5. Backholer, K., Beauchamp, A., Ball, K., Turrell, G., Martin, J., Woods, J. and Peeters, A., 2014. A Framework for Evaluating the Impact of Obesity Prevention Strategies on Socioeconomic Inequalities in Weight. American Journal of Public Health, 104(10), p.e43.