Key Points:
- Weight stigma (i.e., discrimination) causes emotional suffering.
- COVID-19 has increased emotional suffering in people who experience weight stigma.
- Support emotional wellness by using identified wellness tools.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been an increase in stigmatizing memes. For instance, as you scroll through social media and see the many memes about gaining weight as a “consequence” of “eating too much,” you start to feel even worse about yourself. Instead of feeling motivated to support your health, you feel depressed. First, please know that you are not alone! Second, using the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services (SAMHSA) Eight Dimensions of Wellness, this blog post will provide steps to support your emotional wellness dimension.
What is Weight Stigma?
Weight stigma refers to the discriminatory acts and beliefs towards people because of their weight and size (example: the memes outlined above). Weight stigma takes place in many settings including: (World Health Organization [WHO], 2017; World Obesity Federation, 2018):
- the workplace
- education
- healthcare
- personal relationships
- the media
(Data source: WHO, 2017)
COVID-19 and Weight Stigma
The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the negative impacts on emotional wellness in individuals who experience weight stigma. If you are someone in a larger body and you feel that your emotional wellness has been negatively impacted during the COVID-19 pandemic, please know your feelings are valid! Impacts include (Obesity Action Coalition [OAC], n.d.; Puhl et al., 2020; Sutin et al., 2020):
- increased depressive symptoms
- increase binge eating,
- declines in purpose of life and life satisfaction,
- anxiety
- feelings of loneliness, and
- perception of less support from others
Why Address the Impact of Weight Stigma on Emotional Wellness?
Emotional wellness is strongly linked to overall health (Puhl et al., 2020; Sutin et al., 2020). Since weight stigma causes emotional suffering and unhealthy behaviors, it is important to identify weight stigma and find ways to end it.
Additionally, if you are in a larger body, you have likely experienced weight stigma and know how frustrating and harmful it can be. It is especially important for you to focus on supporting your emotional wellness (Puhl et al., 2020; Sutin et al., 2020).
Activities to Support Your Emotional Wellness
If you are experiencing emotional distress and have experienced weight stigma, the following activities, resources and tools will help to support your emotional wellness (National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, 2018; Northwestern University, n.d.; OAC, n.d.; Sonneville & Bauer, 2018; SAMHSA, 2018; UCONN Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity, n.d.a; UCONN Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity, n.d.b; UCONN Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity, n.d.c; WHO, 2017). Check out the interactive links to learn more. Experiment to see which feels the most supportive. I also recommend using the Creating A Heather Life: A Step-By-Step Guide to Wellness to identify other tools, keep track of what you try, and document how it helps.
1. Find a virtual or outdoor physical fitness activity taught by people who reflect your body size. It is important to see people in all different body sizes engaging in various forms of activities. Examples:
- Take a Yoga class through the online class selection at The Underbelly.
- Take a free strength training class through Form Fitness or Girls Gone Strong.
(Photo source: Delphi Reclaimed, 2017)
Use the Activity Planner or appropriate Fact Sheet on the Move Your Way website.
2. Use the following resources to improve self-esteem and body image. Regardless of your body size, you deserve to feel good about yourself and to be treated with respect.
- Use Cleveland Clinic’s 6 Ways to Build a Healthy Self-Image.
- Practicing using specific Building Self-Confidence tools.
- Work on increasing your self-compassion.
- Become familiar with Body Diversity and people who promote this. Start with: Sonya Renee Taylor (i.e., the Body is Not and Apology) and the Association for Size Diversity and Health.
3. Reduce stress. Incorporate a few of the ideas below. They are shown to reduce stress.
- Cook with different fruits and vegetables. Pick a recipe on have a plant. Or, check out a cookbook from your local library.
- Get an appropriate amount of sleep and other forms of rest. See Sleep Tools & Tips for additional ideas.
- Practice mindfulness. Visit Mindful for ideas.
- Limit your time on social media.
- Incorporate humor into your life. The Comedy Cures Foundation has several resources to choose from and Laughter Therapy Enterprises offers several Laughter Tips.
(Photo source: Branch, T., Mindful, 2019)
Get outdoors! Diversify Outdoors has several resources on encouraging all people to take up space in the outdoors.
References:
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. (2018, February 01). Factors affecting weight & health. niddk.nih.gov/health information/weightmanagement/adult overweight-obesity/factors-affecting-weight-health
Northwestern University. (n.d.). Emotional wellness. https://www.northwestern.edu/wellness/8-dimensions/emotional-wellness.html
Obesity Action Coalition. (n.d.). Understanding obesity stigma. https://www.obesityaction.org/get-educated/public-resources/brochures-gu...
Puhl, R., Lessard, L., Larson, N., Eisenberg, M., & Neumark-Stzainer, D. (2020, September 10). Weight stigma as a predictor of distress and maladaptive eating behaviors during COVID-19: longitudinal Findings from the EAT study. Annals of Behavior Medicine, (54), 738-746. https://academic.oup.com/abm/article/54/10/738/5901900
Sonneville, K., & Bauer, K. (2018, October 10). 3 ways public health professionals can combat weight stigma. https://sph.umich.edu/pursuit/2018posts/3-ways-public-health-professiona...
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). (2016, April). Creating a Healthier Life.
Sutin, A. R., Yannick, S., Luchetti, M., Aschwanden, D., Strickhouser, J. E., Lee, J., & Terracciano, A. (2020). Body mass index, weight discrimination, and the trajectory of distress and well‐being across the coronavirus pandemic. Obesity. doi:https://doi.org/10.1002/oby.23048
UCONN Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity. (n.d.a). Should you talk to your kids about weight? uconnruddcenter.org/weight-bias-stigma-parents
UCONN Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity. (n.d.b). Weight bias & stigma. uconnruddcenter.org/weight-bias-stigma
UCONN Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity. (n.d.c). What about weight? uconnruddcenter.org/weight-bias-stigma-kids-and-teens
World Health Organization (WHO). (2017, October 10). Weight bias and obesity stigma: Considerations for the WHO European Region (2017). https://www.euro.who.int/en/health-topics/noncommunicable-diseases/obesi...
World Obesity Federation. (2018, November 08). Weight stigma. https://www.worldobesity.org/what-we-do/our-policy-priorities/weight-stigma