Stupid. Ugly. Sloppy. Lazy. Undisciplined. Fat. All words frequently used to describe people who are overweight or obese.

Commonplace in the United States, weight stigma refers to negative beliefs associated with being obese or overweight that emerge in a culture that is sizeist (McHugh & Chrisler, 2019; Kinavey & Cool, 2019). For example, overweight and obese individuals are frequently described using a slew of negative attributes (from smelly and unstylish to lacking in moral integrity). Such negative beliefs about overweight individuals often result in weight-based discrimination (Puhl & Heuer, 2009) or the maltreatment or disenfranchisement of individuals due to their body size.

One might think that mental health professionals wouldn't hold anti-fat attitudes or negative weight bias. Psychologists and mental health professionals are, in fact, ethically responsible for the health of our patients and for creating a nonjudgmental therapy environment that is free from societally based bias (Kinavey & Cool, 2019). Yet, that is not the case.

Weight stigma research consistently finds that healthcare professionals (including physicians, nurses, and dietitians) hold biased attitudes and beliefs about obese patients (Budd et........

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