Weight bias

Weight bias refers to negative attitudes and behaviors regarding weight and shape. This can include overt or explicit stigmatizing acts such as teasing, bullying, harassment, and discrimination. It can also include implicit negative attitudes and biases against larger bodies. Internalization of weight bias may occur when negative attitudes toward higher weight become a part of how individuals appraise themselves and other people. This chapter reviews factors related to the occurrence of weight bias in youth, and sources of weight bias that may be influential to children and adolescents, such as sociocultural norms and social media, health care settings, schools, peers, and family. We also address the psychological, social, academic, and physical correlates of experiencing and internalizing weight bias in youth. Additionally, we describe the ways in which weight bias experiences have implications for negative outcomes and experiences later in life. Finally, we conclude with a discussion of interventions that have been developed to address weight bias.