Articles & Content
Unlearning and Learning
These short articles provide tips and resources for you to explore issues of weight stigma and how a body liberation approach aligns with public health values.
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Correlation ≠ Causation: A body liberation approach enables us to be truer to the values that underlie our work. In this series of articles, we examine ways we can improve our public health work by becoming more weight-inclusive.
For people in larger bodies, there are daily reminders that they do not fit here, that they do not belong. They must be constantly thinking about these things and planning how to navigate a world not built for them.
The racist origin story of the Body Mass Index (BMI) has been well-documented, and its current use continues to perpetuate stereotypes and misinformation. Here are some better options.
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Here is an example of advocacy on behalf of weight-inclusive policy, including students speaking up, faculty and staff supporting them, and administrators listening. Learn about a Fat Justice Journal Club and its advocacy project.
Creating workplaces that are inclusive of people of all sizes involves physical and visual aspects, as well as the topics of "water cooler banter." Explore ways that both organizations and individuals can make people of all sizes feel welcome at work.
What do we mean by "feeling comfortable in our body," and where do these “feelings” come from? An examination of what underlies these feelings is critical to uprooting our own implicit anti-fat bias and working toward body liberation for all.
By Katie Borofka - What if public health focused on compassion, pleasure, and a radical divestment from shame? Surely, there is space alongside disease prevention for feeling good in our bodies.
By Stasha Hornbeck - If I’m not prescribing “what to eat” anymore, what is a dietitian to do? One clinical dietitian and diabetes educator shares the ways she is shifting from a weight-normative to a weight-inclusive, trauma-informed approach in a large healthcare environment.
One of the most fundamental ways that we can enshrine our values is to create policy that manifests those values. Weight-inclusive policy aligns with principles of inclusion (anti-discrimination), access (universal design), and human rights.
Seeing ourselves represented in our environment helps us to know that we belong here, and this includes in the classroom. We can make changes that get us closer to class experiences of respect and dignity for students of all sizes.
We all have bodies, and our bodies intersect in so many ways with our other identities. In every case, our bodies are impacted by our various identities and how they are either celebrated, welcomed, marginalized or oppressed by society.
There are a lot of incorrect assumptions about eating disorders, and participating in body liberation requires knowing some basic correct information. You cannot tell if a person has an eating disorder by looking at them.
In order for the School of Public Health to really move forward in an equity lens, a fat justice lens needs to be incorporated. Too often, people in fat bodies feel uncomfortable navigating health and public health spaces, and the first step to breaking that cycle is to acknowledge and promote that we belong in them.”
— Stephanie Schulden, Fat Activist and MPH Student