Weight Inclusive Care

I recently produced a continuing education article for Today’s Dietitian Magazine. In the article, I share some of the evidence supporting why weight inclusive care should be THE standard of care.

What is weight inclusive care? It is healthcare without weight stigma; it doesn’t use body weight as the focal point of treatment or intervention. Weight inclusive care challenges the weight normative approach by emphasizing non-weight-based markers of health and well-being. Conversely, weight normative care focuses on weight and weight loss as indicators of health and well-being.

A. Janet Tomiyama, PhD, an associate professor of health and social psychology at UCLA, has proposed a “Cyclic Obesity/Weight-Based Stigma (COBWEBS)” model characterizing weight stigma as a “vicious cycle.” This model demonstrates a positive feedback loop where weight stigma engenders weight gain through greater food consumption and increased cortisol secretion (see figure).

This article was written for a dietitian audience and dietitians will receive 2 free continuing education units by taking a quiz at the end of the article. If you’re not a dietitian, you are still more than welcome to read the article to learn more about weight inclusive care.