Diet culture and weight stigma are not isolated to one corner of the world. While it may be popular to see misinformed and harmful messaging rooted in biases on social media, in advertisements, and from those we interact with on a daily basis, unfortunately, some professionals are misled by these ideals, as well.

Weight stigma can be incredibly harmful to individuals’ health, even if a professional may think they are offering helpful (yet unwarranted) guidance. Whether you are in recovery, working toward building a stronger relationship with your body, or simply seeking quality care, everyone deserves to have their concerns heard and addressed — without the harmful assumptions of weight stigma.

Here’s what you need to know about weight stigma and the serious ways it can impact health and well-being, along with some tips to find a provider who will listen.

What Is Weight Stigma?

Weight stigma is defined as “negative attitudes and beliefs that devalue people based on their weight status that may include bias, discrimination, stereotyping, social exclusion.”¹

In short, weight stigma is when people — whether it’s a healthcare provider or someone else — have harmful and often incorrect thoughts and assumptions simply because of a person’s size.

Weight Stigma in the Healthcare Industry

Some professionals — even those who are not certified to give nutritional or physical health guidance — may give unwarranted comments about a person’s body shape or size.

Unfortunately, it’s not uncommon to hear that a client has no health concerns, yet their doctor, psychiatrist, chiropractor, or other provider told them that they need to lose weight to be “healthy.” In reality, practicing unhealthy dieting behaviors negatively impacts health, and people usually end up worse off.

For example, say a person comes to their doctor with concerns about pain in a part of their body, their provider may immediately (and incorrectly) assume that pain is somehow related to their weight. However, by incorrectly assuming that pain is related to their weight and neglecting to investigate other potential causes, they may completely dismiss a larger health issue that requires attention.

There are so many stories of people who go to their providers with health concerns, only to be dismissed and told it’s due to their weight, and later diagnosed with a serious health condition that could have been caught sooner if only the doctor would have listened and not been thinking from a lens of weight bias.²

It’s especially harmful when healthcare providers have weight stigma. We trust doctors and other healthcare providers because they are supposed to be experts in their field, informed by years of school and training. However, when we have a negative experience with them, it can seriously harm our perception of ourselves and the healthcare industry as a whole.

If you’ve experienced weight stigma, know that it’s not okay. You deserve better, and there are professionals out there who will listen and provide care, free of biases.

The Harmful Impacts of Weight Stigma

Weight stigma can cause so many harmful impacts in the quality of care individuals receive, on their mental health, and more.

Just a few of the negative impacts of weight stigma include:

• Health disparity: Weight stigma means people may receive less quality care, and their concerns may actually be ignored as a healthcare provider assumes they are related to their weight. They may not investigate the same issues they would for a person in a smaller body, leading to problems that go undiagnosed and issues that go unaddressed.³
• Disordered eating: Weight stigma is significantly linked with disordered eating. It can contribute to, and even trigger behaviors in individuals.⁴
• Less likely to seek care: Individuals who experience weight stigma may be less likely to seek medical care, especially if they feel their concerns have been dismissed in the past or their weight has been brought up when they did not even mention it.⁵
• Mental health: Regardless of a person’s size, weight discrimination negatively impacts mental health.⁶
• Increased mortality: Research found that weight discrimination was linked with a nearly 60% increased risk in mortality.⁷
• Alcohol use: Experiencing weight stigma is also related with alcohol use.⁸
• Discrimination: Weight stigma leads to discrimination in many different areas — including healthcare settings, schools, workplaces, policies, and more. All the impacts listed above may be exasperated by the discrimination individuals face.⁹

This highlights just how critical it is for all individuals to receive compassionate, considerate care, free from biases.

How To Avoid Weight Stigma in Healthcare

One of the best ways to avoid weight stigma in healthcare is to search for a HAES provider. HAES, short for “Health at Every Size,” is an approach that acknowledges that individuals of all body shapes and sizes can be healthy and deserve care free of biases.

Healthcare providers who give care in line with HAES principles aim to provide quality care tailored to you and your concerns — without sharing harmful, often unrelated misconceptions or “advice” rooted in weight stigma. They will not give unwarranted advice about your body and will genuinely work to address your concerns.

However, many individuals know that even when some providers are asked not to discuss weight, they will bring it up as a topic of discussion — or pose it as the reason for health issues without investigating other potential causes.

The key to finding a HAES provider is to ask questions about how they give care. There are also directories with vetted HAES providers, which can be a great resource for finding a provider that’s a good fit for you.

Learn more about how to find a HAES provider here.

You Deserve Quality Care, Free of Weight Stigma

It can be disheartening to try and find healthcare providers who practice a HAES model. However, you deserve to have your concerns heard. Finding a HAES provider, free of weight stigma, can be transformative for your long-term health and well-being! Every individual in every body shape and size deserves to have providers that listen to and investigate their concerns.

At Life Cycle Nutrition, all of our registered dieticians are HAES professionals, ready to walk alongside you and listen to your concerns and goals in your individual wellness journey. Schedule an appointment with us for life-changing, individualized nutrition coaching today!

 

Works Cited

1. Brown, Adrian, Stuart W. Flint, and Rachel L. Batterham. 2022. “Pervasiveness, impact and implications of weight stigma.” eClinicalMedicine 47 (April). 10.1016/j.eclinm.2022.101408.
2. Medaris, Anna. 2023. “Doctors Dismissed Pain As Anxiety, Weight. It Was a Rare Tumor.” Business Insider, March 2, 2023. https://www.businessinsider.com/pain-dismissed-anxiety-weight-she-had-a-rare-tumor-2023-3.
3. Vafiadis, Dorothea. 2024. “What Are the Consequences of Weight Stigma?” National Council on Aging. https://www.ncoa.org/article/how-do-weight-bias-and-stigma-affect-patients-with-obesity/.
4. Lee, Kristen M., Jeffrey M. Hunger, and A. J. Tomiyama. 2021. “Weight stigma and health behaviors: evidence from the Eating in America Study.” International Journal of Obesity 45 (May): 1499-1509. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41366-021-00814-5.
5. Ryan, Leona, Roy Coyne, Caroline Heary, Susie Birney, Michael Crotty, Rosie Dunne, Owen Conlan, and Jane C. Walsh. 2023. “Weight stigma experienced by patients with obesity in healthcare settings: A qualitative evidence synthesis.” Obesity Reviews 24, no. 10 (August). https://doi.org/10.1111/obr.13606.
6. Hatzenbuehler, Mark L., Katherine M. Keyes, and Deborah S. Hasin. 2012. “Associations Between Perceived Weight Discrimination and the Prevalence of Psychiatric Disorders in the General Population.” Obesity 17, no. 11 (September). https://doi.org/10.1038/oby.2009.131.
7. Sutin, Angelina R., Yannick Stephan, and Antonio Terracciano. 2016. “Weight Discrimination and Risk of Mortality.” Psychological Science 26, no. 11 (November): 1803-1811. 10.1177/0956797615601103.
8. Lee, “Weight Stigma,” 2016.
9. Brown, “Pervasiveness,” 2022.