What Is Weight Stigma and How Is It Harmful?

Have you ever felt judged because of your weight or your decision to have bariatric surgery? If so, you’ve experienced the harmful and exhausting effects of weight stigma firsthand. From comments made in passing to blatant mistreatment, weight stigma can deeply impact your confidence, healthy journey and everyday life.

What is Weight Stigma?

The World Obesity Federation defines weight stigma as the unfair treatment of individuals based their weight and size. Weight stigma is rooted in weight bias, the untrue negative ideologies associated with obesity. These can include assumptions of laziness, low intelligence, bad hygiene and even poor moral character.

Weight stigma can result in devastating emotional impacts, such as depression, low self-esteem and anxiety. However, weight stigma can affect more than social and emotional health—it can also worsen physical health.

The Effects of Weight Stigma on Physical Health

  • Eating and Exercise Behaviors: The feelings of shame that results from weight stigma can lead to exercise avoidance and unhealthy weight loss techniques. These include restrictive eating and binge eating, which often ultimately cause increased weight gain. The stress of weight stigma also raises cortisol levels, also triggering further weight gain.1
  • Stress: Weight stigma correlates with increased stress hormone levels. Chronic stress can have serious effects on our bodies, including the musculoskeletal, respiratory, cardiovascular, endocrine, gastrointestinal, nervous and reproductive systems.2
  • Self-Harm or Suicide: Many people with obesity have said they avoid social situations because they fear criticism. Social isolation is a well-established risk factor for suicidality.3

Weight Stigma Examples in Different Environments

Weight stigma examples can show up in all types of environments, from restaurants and movie theaters to the workplace and healthcare settings.

  • Schools and Educational Environments: Sizeism is a top player in the bullying epidemic. Studies show that teens with obesity are more than twice as likely to be bullied than their healthy-weight peers.4 Weight stigma can even influence grading, with some teachers assigning disproportionately lower grades to students with obesity.5
  • Workplace: Employees who carry excess weight are frequently treated poorly in the workplace. This can include unfair hiring practices and lower wages. In fact, women affected by obesity earn 6% less, while men earn 3% less for the same work as their healthy-weight colleagues. Employees with obesity may face harsher discipline, wrongful termination and negative stereotypes like laziness or incompetence. Some employers even impose financial penalties, charging employees with obesity more in healthcare costs until they lower their body mass index (BMI).6
  • Personal Relationships: Weight stigma is arguably most harmful when it infiltrates personal relationships. Weight-based criticism is most common from partners, spouses, siblings and children. These comments are especially damaging coming from those one loves and trusts most.
  • Healthcare and Medical Settings: Many healthcare providers strongly view people with obesity with negative attitudes and stereotypes. This way of thinking can influence interpersonal behavior and decision-making, thereby undermining quality of care. Some healthcare providers avoid accepting patients with obesity, seeing it only as a risk factor that complicates their care.7
  • Media: People with obesity are often unfairly portrayed as clumsy, lazy or without friends in television shows, movies and social media. These negative depictions reinforce the bias of those who haven’t lived with obesity and further lowers the self-esteem of people living with it.

Combatting Weight Bias and Weight Stigma

Tackling weight stigma and bias requires a united, intentional effort from everyone. This begins with personal action, like looking inward to assess your own attitude on weight.

Use respectful language when talking to or about people affected by obesity. “Fat jokes” and certain vocabulary words are harmful and deepen the stigma. Modeling respectful language can influence others to do the same.

Educate yourself and others to help understand that obesity is a complex disease with compound causes. Obesity does not come from a lack of effort. Many people are doing everything they can, yet they face challenges beyond their control that make weight management difficult. Recognizing this can also help reduce harmful weight-based stereotypes and bullying in any setting.

The Obesity Action Coalition (OAC) have a Weight Bias Task Force that confronts weight stigma and bias on social media. You can contact them if you see any examples of weight-based stereotypes by going here.

At Rocky Mountain Associated Physicians (RMAP), we are passionate contributors to the fight against weight stigma and bias. Our virtual support group offers a community and guidance for those facing the emotional challenges of obesity.

If you or someone you know are experiencing a mental health emergency, please contact the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.

Rocky Mountain Associated Physicians
www.RMAP.com || 801.268.3800
1521 East 3900 South, Suite 100
SLC, UT 84124

  1. Vogel L. Fat shaming is making people sicker and heavier. CMAJ. 2019;191(23):E649. doi:10.1503/cmaj.109-5758 ↩︎
  2. American Psychological Association. Stress: Effects on the body. APA.org. Published November 1, 2018. Updated October 21, 2024. Accessed July  5, 2025. https://www.apa.org/topics/stress/body ↩︎
  3. Graham C, Frisco M. The relationship between obesity and suicide ideation among young adults in the United States. SSM Popul Health. 2022;18:101106. doi:10.1016/j.ssmph.2022.101106. ↩︎
  4. Rupp K, McCoy SM. Bullying perpetration and victimization among adolescents with overweight and obesity in a nationally representative sample. Child Obes. 2019;15(5):323–330. doi:10.1089/chi.2018.0233 ↩︎
  5. Finn KE, Seymour CM, Phillips AE. Weight bias and grading among middle and high school teachers. Br J Educ Psychol. 2020;90(3):635–647. doi:10.1111/bjep.12322 ↩︎
  6. Obesity Action Coalition, Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity. Weight Bias in the Workplace: Information for Employers. Published 2015. Accessed July 5, 2025. https://www.obesityaction.org/wp-content/uploads/Weight-Bias-in-the-Workplace.pdf ↩︎
  7. Phelan SM, Burgess DJ, Yeazel MW, Hellerstedt WL, Griffin JM, van Ryn M. Impact of weight bias and stigma on quality of care and outcomes for patients with obesity. Obes Rev. 2015;16(4):319–326. doi:10.1111/obr.12266 ↩︎
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