
Show Notes
National obesity researcher Dr. Angela Alberga returns for a deep dive into one of the most pervasive and harmful forces in society: weight bias and stigma. From subtle stereotypes to systemic barriers, weight bias shows up in ways we often don’t even see—especially in schools, sports, and healthcare. Its impact? Profound mental health effects, poorer care, and lifelong harm for many people living with obesity—especially children and teens. In this conversation, we explore where weight bias hides, how it harms, and how we can begin dismantling it, across systems and as individuals.
In this episode: Where weight bias hides in everyday environments—beyond the clinic
How stigma impacts young people in schools, sports, and healthcare
The mental health and long-term impacts of chronic exposure to bias
How bias becomes embedded in well-meaning systems—and how to disrupt it
Practical first steps clinicians, educators, and leaders can take to address bias
Resources mentioned: Canadian Pediatric Obesity Clinical Practice Guidelines: https://utm.guru/uitVE
Free course: The impact of weight bias & stigma: https://utm.guru/uitVF
Harvard Implicit Weight Bias Test: https://utm.guru/uitVH
Obesity Canada’s positive image gallery: https://utm.guru/uiuXW Recognizing weight bias, stigma, & discrimination: https://utm.guru/uiuXY Canadian Adult Obesity Clinical Practice Guidelines: Reducing Weight Bias in Obesity Management, Practice and Policy: https://utm.guru/uiuXZ Clinical Space Checklist to avoid weight stigma in equipment & our environments: https://utm.guru/uiuX0 Free evidence-informed online learning module to reduce weight bias and stigma among health professionals, Balanced View: https://utm.guru/uiuX1 Supportive Obesity Care, UConn Rudd Center & Rebecca Puhl: https://utm.guru/uiuX2 Resources on how health professionals and families can hold sensitive weight-related conversations: https://utm.guru/uiuX6
Send us your questions or topic requests: [email protected]
Enjoying the podcast? Here’s how you can support us: ✅ Share the episode with a colleague ✅ Subscribe on your favourite podcast platform ✅ Leave a review—it helps more people find us
Thanks for listening—and stay tuned as we continue to scale up your practice.
More from Scale Up Your Practice by Obesity Canada
🎙️This episode is sponsored by an unrestricted education grant from Eli Lilly Canada
What happens when healthcare professionals know what evidence-informed obesity care should look like, but the system makes that care difficult to deliver? Ian Patton and Jennifer Brown join us on the podcast to unpack findings from The State of Obesity Care in Canada report and connect them to what clinicians and patients experience every day: limited referral pathways, uneven treatment coverage, gaps in psychological support, inconsistent access to metabolic bariatric surgery and the effects of weight bias at the system level.
🎙️This episode is sponsored by an unrestricted education grant from Eli Lilly Canada
🎙️This episode was made possible through the partnership between Obesity Canada and Boehringer Ingelheim in support of the Global Patient Charter Framework initiative.
🎙️This episode is sponsored by an unrestricted education grant from Eli Lilly Canada Pregnancy care should feel safe, respectful and supportive for every patient. But for pregnant patients living with obesity, clinical spaces can sometimes create anxiety before care even begins, from waiting room seating and equipment that do not fit, to conversations about weight, pregnancy risk and health that can feel stigmatizing. In this episode of Scale Up Your Practice, Dr. Cynthia Maxwell joins Dr. Roshan Abraham and Michelle McMillan to discuss how healthcare professionals can create safer, more equitable pregnancy care for patients living with obesity. She shares practical strategies to reduce weight bias in maternal care, communicate pregnancy risks without blame, ask permission around weighing, and build healthcare environments where patients feel physically and psychologically safe.