Did you know that in comparison to Social Work and Education students, nursing students had worse attitudes toward people in larger bodies? (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S8755722318301054). So what can you do to gather information about what weight bias is?
According to Obesity Canada:
"Weight bias refers to negative attitudes and views about obesity and about people with obesity
Experiencing weight bias can have negative consequences for individuals, including feelings of shame and blame, anxiety, depression, poor self-esteem and body dissatisfaction that can lead to unhealthy weight-control practices."
Check out these amazing resources that you have access to through your U of T Library Account:
A critical review of Body Mass Index as a measure of health:
The negative health outcomes associated with weight stigma:
This year at the CNSA conference, a position paper was presented by Courtney Blake (http://cnsa.ca/directors/indigenous/) addressing nursing student’s role in combating weight stigma. The position statement did not pass and started a debate about the connections between weight and disease. What do you think about weight bias? Never thought about it? Today is the day!
If you aren’t up for reading scientific articles right now, check out this podcast on your commute to learn more. Each episode provides evidence based references in the show notes!