We Value Representation: In public health, we work to ensure representation of a variety of lived experiences and perspectives, especially when our work is focusing on a particular community. This must include people in larger bodies.

Best Practices: Recommending intentional weight loss does not meet the standard for a best practice, and has the potential to cause harm. We can more effectively improve health with weight-neutral, sustainable approaches.

Focus on Equity: Including weight stigma in our anti-oppression work allows us to take a more inclusive and expansive approach to equity. Body liberation adds an important piece to our liberatory, health-enhancing work.

Health is Multi-Dimensional: Our health encompasses much more than just nutrition and exercise. A multi-dimensional view is more balanced and more respectful of a variety of cultures, as well as individual autonomy.

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.

Weight science refers to research about weight loss methods, and the connection between weight and various health conditions, including purported harms of higher weights, and claims of efficacy and benefits of weight loss.

Here are some other terms and phrases that you might hear used in body liberation discussions: orthorexia; fatmisia; concern trolling. Familiarity with them will help in navigating body liberation spaces.

FAT – Those three letters can sure stir up a lot of emotions! Shame to joy, stigma to liberation, and these days, sometimes they cause confusion and questions. We can reclaim it as a neutral descriptor.

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.