Weight bias reflects negative societal attitudes based on body weight and may include
judgments about a person’s body shape or size if that size is not in concordance with
societal expectations.
1
A significant focus of weight bias research has been the stigma directed toward people
in larger bodies, known as obesity stigma or, more commonly, weight stigma.
2
Weight bias has been shown to be pervasive throughout American society and culture,
3
including among some within the field of dietetics.
4
Negative beliefs and attitudes may include perceptions of people in larger bodies
as lazy, sloppy, noncompliant, or lacking self-discipline.
5
These stereotypes may implicitly or explicitly influence how Registered Dietitian
Nutritionists (RDNs) interact with people with obesity within the many different professional
roles in which RDNs serve. This article discusses the importance of addressing weight
bias and weight stigma in the dietetics field and presents current controversies relating
to weight stigma. The authors propose actionable strategies for communicating about
weight across different aspects of dietetics, from policy to training to practice.To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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Biography
E. M. Howes is a doctoral student, Virginia Tech, Department of Human Nutrition, Foods, and Exercise, Blacksburg, VA.
Biography
S. M. Harden is an associate professor, Virginia Tech, Department of Human Nutrition, Foods, and Exercise, Blacksburg, VA.
Biography
H. K. Cox is a senior instructor and director of the didactic program in dietetics, Virginia Tech, Department of Human Nutrition, Foods, and Exercise, Blacksburg, VA.
Biography
V. E. Hedrick is an assistant professor, Virginia Tech, Department of Human Nutrition, Foods, and Exercise, Blacksburg, VA.
Article info
Publication history
Published online: February 12, 2021
Accepted:
January 19,
2021
Received in revised form:
January 12,
2021
Received:
July 27,
2020
Footnotes
STATEMENT OF POTENTIAL CONFLICT OF INTEREST No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
FUNDING/SUPPORT This work was supported in part by the Translational Obesity Research Interdisciplinary Graduate Education Program at Virginia Tech.
AUTHOR CONTRIBUTIONS EH, SH, and VH generated the paper topic. EH wrote the first draft of the manuscript with input from all authors. All authors reviewed and commented on subsequent drafts of the manuscript and approved of the final version.
Identification
Copyright
© 2021 by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
