“Weight bias can be defined as the inclination to form unreasonable judgments based on a person’s weight. Stigma is the social sign that is carried by a person who is a victim of prejudice and weight bias.” CDC
Today is the start of BEDA’s (Binge Eating Disorder Association) National Weight Stigma Awareness Week. There are countless ways that weight discrimination and stigma can negatively impact a life. This week is dedicated to reiterating the powerful impact of discrimination and debunking the myth that in order to be healthy, you must possess a certain body shape or size.
http://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2011/sep/10_0281.htm
It is extremely difficult to challenge, and then change, entrenched ideas within ourselves of what it means to be healthy, beautiful, or successful, when our culture, society, and media is encouraging and perpetuating archaic and inaccurate information about beauty and health, but it is possible. At Kantor & Kantor, LLP, we encourage everyone to challenge negative habits and ways of thinking about weight and body image. Together, we can change the way society thinks about health and body image. “And the solution to this reaction isn’t for fat people to lose weight — it’s for everyone else to examine the basis of a prejudice that’s really not about health.”
http://jezebel.com/5494388/offensively-fat-the-truth-behind-weight-stigma
