July 20, 2023

Open Letter to the OHSU-PSU School of Public Health Administration Advocating for Body Size Equity in the OHSU-PSU School of Public Health Anti-Oppression/Discrimination Policy

We are a group of students, faculty, and staff of the OHSU-PSU School of Public Health and members of the School’s Fat Justice Journal Club, which met monthly during the 2022-23 academic year.  Because of the articles we read and discussed this year, as well as the sharing of experiences and knowledge, we are bringing the following request to the School of Public Health administration:

WHEREAS weight stigma and structural anti-fatness are detrimental to population health (Hunger et al., 2020; Pausé, 2017);

WHEREAS there is a growing body of literature that complicates or disproves common assumptions and widely shared information about the connection between body size and health (Hunger et al., 2020; Jutel, 2001);

WHEREAS the oppression and discrimination experienced by people with large bodies are rooted in anti-Black racism (Daufin, 2019; Harrison, 2021; Strings, 2019) and intersect with other experiences of oppression (Brown, 2018; Gerend et al., 2022);

WHEREAS the field of public health is uniquely culpable for harms caused by the legacy of the so-called “ob*sity epidemic” and has a particular responsibility to address these harms (Hunger et al., 2020; Jutel, 2001; Pausé, 2017);

WHEREAS the OHSU-PSU School of Public Health is committed to equity, inclusion, and social justice (https://ohsu-psu-sph.org/our-school/);

WHEREAS the OHSU-PSU School of Public Health, as an institution dedicated to both research innovation and community engagement, with responsibility toward training the future Public Health workforce, holds power in shifting dominant oppressive narratives;

WHEREAS anti-fatness embedded within the institution directly impacts students, faculty, and staff at the OHSU-PSU SPH;

WHEREAS addressing anti-fatness within the OHSU-PSU SPH requires an institution-wide commitment; and, 

WHEREAS the institution prides itself on being an innovative institution, and innovation on this topic requires incorporating the school’s social justice values into its perspective on fatness;

THEREFORE, body size warrants explicit inclusion in our School’s anti-discrimination/anti-oppression policy.  We request that the School administration take the necessary steps to implement this inclusion.

FURTHER, for future consideration, an institutional commitment to weight inclusion could include:

1. An investment in research that targets anti-fatness and does not live within the ob*sity paradigm.
2. A critical examination of faculty candidates’ historical research and current orientation related to this topic.
3. Support for both OHSU and PSU in developing destigmatizing health promotion campaigns/curricular changes that support the well-being of people in all bodies.
4. A critical examination of anti-fatness in the SPH curriculum, as well as expanding Fat Studies and body liberation topics and courses.
5. A commitment to making public statements in opposition to anti-fat bias and discrimination that harms individual and public health, especially for children and young people who are particularly vulnerable to these harms. 

We, the undersigned, support this statement by the OHSU-PSU School of Public Health’s Fat Justice Journal Club and encourage the School administration to follow through with its request.

[Signatures redacted]

Citations and resources (*indicates FJJC-discussed readings)

Brown, H. A. (2018). “There’s always stomach on the table and then I gotta write!”: Physical space and learning in fat college women. Fat Studies, 7(1), 11–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/21604851.2017.1360665

*Daufin, E. (2019). Thick sistahs and heavy disprivilege: Black women, intersectionality, and weight stigma. In Thickening fat (pp. 160–170). Routledge.

*Friedman, M., Rice, C., & Lind, E. R. (2020). A high-risk body for whom? On fat, risk, recognition and reclamation in restorying reproductive care through digital storytelling.

Gerend, M. A., Stewart, C., & Wetzel, K. (2022). Vulnerability and resilience to the harmful health consequences of weight discrimination in Black, Latina, and sexual minority women. Social Science & Medicine, 315, 115555. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2022.115555

*Gibson, G. (2022). Health (ism) at every size: The duties of the “good fatty.” Fat Studies, 11(1), 22–35.

*Gordon, A., & Hobbes, M. (2023, February 28). Doctors Have a New Plan for Fat Kids [Podcast]. In Maintenance Phase. https://www.maintenancephase.com/

Harrison, D. L. (2021). Belly of the beast: The politics of anti-fatness as anti-blackness. North Atlantic Books.

*Hunger, J. M., Smith, J. P., & Tomiyama, A. J. (2020). An Evidence-Based Rationale For Adopting Weight-Inclusive Health Policy. Social Issues and Policy Review, 14(1), 73–107. https://doi.org/10.1111/sipr.12062

*Jutel, A. (2001). Does size really matter? Weight and values in public health. Perspectives in Biology and Medicine, 44(2), 283–296.

Kaufman, D. (2023). Body Liberation for Public Health Project. Body Liberation for Public Health Project. https://bodyliberationforpublichealth.com/

*Pausé, C. (2017). Borderline: The ethics of fat stigma in public health. Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, 45(4), 510–517.

Strings, S. (2019). Fearing the Black Body: The Racial Origins of Fat Phobia. New York University Press.