Last week was Weight Stigma Awareness Week. In case you missed it, here are some highlights from their website and from instagram.
From a video by Dr. E-K Daufin: This #WeightStigmaAwarenessWeek is all about taking action. 👊 Taking action against weight stigma means actively challenging harmful stereotypes, biases, and discrimination based on body size or weight—which involves spreading awareness and creating environments where people of *all* body types feel respected and valued. 🧡
Here’s Ragen Chastain on how to ask for weight-neutral medical care:
- Call ahead and ask for a provider who is willing to treat you without weight loss recommendations.
- Ask the provider to focus on the issue that brought you to the appointment. Not weight.
- Ask the provider to prescribe what they would for a thin person.
- You can exercise your right of informed refusal to weight-loss interventions.
If you missed Weight Stigma Awareness Week, it’s definitely not too late to take part. Their motto this year is “Awareness to Action”. We can point out weight stigma when we see it, check it in ourselves (as it’s so deeply entrenched) and support each other in appreciating all bodies for what they are and what they do for us.
Happy Weight Stigma Awareness Week!