CW: discussion of weight stigma.
You would think that, after study upon study shows how body weight is significantly genetic, that weight stigma would go away.
You would think that, given that virtually all medically-prescribed diet programs result in regaining the weight lost during them after 2–5 years, blaming people for regaining weight would go away.
You would think that. But, no, it hasn’t. Weight stigma is still very much alive and well and out there. However, researchers are studying weight stigma in more detail, with the goal of addressing it (both internalized and external forms) and reducing its harms to all of us. That’s a good thing.
Here are a few examples of what some researchers have been doing about it.
In this 2025 study by Figueroa and colleagues, they concluded that
Weight stigma was directly associated with greater depressive and anxiety symptoms. Moreover, the relationship between weight stigma and greater depressive and anxiety symptoms was mediated by greater perceived stress. Perceived stress explained 37% of the relationship between weight stigma and mental health outcomes, even after accounting for Body Mass Index.
Using standard measures for anxiety, stress, and depression, the researchers found not only that being stigmatized for one’s weight gives rise to anxiety and depression, but that perceived stress from weight stigma also brought on these mental health symptoms. This was regardless of BMI in the participants.
In this 2024 study by Janet Tomiyama, David Figueroa and others, the researchers examined how changes in information for recruiting people for human research studies might affect the number of higher-weight people participating. They note that higher-weight people are often absent from scientific studies, and considered “difficult to recruit”. As a result, studies in which they are absent are subject to sampling bias. Here’s what this study did:
…this study experimentally manipulated the phrasing of weight‐related information included in recruitment materials and examined its impact on participants’ characteristics.
Two visually similar flyers, either weight‐salient or neutral, were randomly posted throughout a university campus to recruit participants (N = 300) for a short survey, assessing their internalized weight bias, anticipated and experienced stigmatizing experiences, eating habits, and general demographic characteristics.
Although the weight‐salient (vs. neutral) flyer took 18.5 days longer to recruit the target sample size, there were no between flyer differences in respondents’ internalized weight bias, anticipated/experienced weight stigma, disordered eating behaviors, BMI, or perceived weight.
That is, researchers have choices over how they present initial information to potential participants in studies; if they mention weight-related procedures (in this case gathering data about height and weight), they should know recruitment might take longer, but not necessarily affect the outcome of the study.
A paper that came out in 2021, based on the Eating in America study, also by Janet Tomiyama and colleagues, gathered data on some of the negative health outcomes associated with weight stigma. They found:
…weight stigma was significantly asso- ciated with greater disordered eating, comfort eating, alcohol use, and sleep disturbance, after controlling for covariates. No such relationship was observed for physical activity.
They also found that lower BMIs don’t reduce the negative health outcomes for those experiencing weight stigma:
In our sample, individuals across the weight spectrum, not only those with overweight or obese BMIs, reported weight stigma. In fact, moderation analyses indicated that individuals with lower BMIs showed greater disordered eating and alcohol use in the face of weight stigma.
They conclude, quite reasonably:
Taken together, these findings highlight weight stigma as a potential barrier to healthy behaviors, and suggest that one strategy to improve population health may be to reduce weight stigma. Though more research is needed, it may be important to employ more weight-inclusive approaches to health pro- motion, such as removing stigmatizing language or weight outcomes from health policies and program objectives.
Yes, agreed.
Research on weight stigma shows that it’s still very much present and is associated with very many negative health outcomes. It can and should be addressed, and we have ideas on how to do that.
So how about let’s do that. Maybe now, don’t you think?
