Executive summary

Grade of Consensus (GoC): U = Unanimous; A = >90%

Weight stigma is reinforced by misconceived ideas about body weight regulation and lack of awareness of current scientific evidence. Weight stigma is unacceptable in modern societies, as it undermines human rights, social rights, and the health of afflicted individuals (GoC: A).

Research indicates that weight stigma can cause significant harm to affected individuals. Individuals who experience it suffer from both physical and psychological consequences, and are less likely to seek and receive adequate care (GoC: U).

Despite scientific evidence to the contrary, the prevailing view in society is that obesity is a choice which can be reversed by voluntary decisions to eat less and exercise more. These assumptions mislead public health policies, confuse messages in popular media, undermine access to evidence-based treatments, and compromise advances in research (GoC: A).

For the reasons above, weight stigma represents a major obstacle in efforts to effectively prevent and treat obesity and T2D. Tackling stigma is not only a matter of human rights and social justice, but also a way to advance prevention and treatment of these diseases (GoC: A).

Academic institutions, professional organizations, media, public health authorities, and government should encourage education about weight stigma and facilitate a new public narrative of obesity, coherent with modern scientific knowledge (GoC: U).

Over 100 medical and scientific organisations have endorsed the statement and pledge. See the list below of organisations and individuals who have pledged and given consent for their details to be published online.  

Organisations:

1. The French Speaking Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism (SFNCM), Chairman: Prof Pierre Dechelotte
2. HOBS- Hälsa oberoende av storlek
3. Hughes Krupica
4. La Ligue contre l'obésité
5. Obesity Action Coalition
6. Obesity Canada
7. SOCIEDAD ESPAÑOLA DE OBESIDAD -S EEDO
8. Obesity Canada
9. London Bridge Hospital, part of HCA Healthcare
10. Italian Society of Pediatrics, "Adolescence" study group
11. Obesity Group of the British Dietetic Association
12. Approach Center of excellence in kids Obesity (Montreal, Canada)
13. PCOS Vitality
14. Société Française de Nutrition
15. International Medical Press
16. Tallaght University Hospital
17. Irish Coalition for People Living with Obesity (ICPO)
18. European Coalition for People Living with Obesity (ECPO)
19. ETHICON, JOHNSON & JOHNSON
20. German Obesity Society (Deutsche Adipositas-Gesellschaft)
21. MTYBariatrics
22. Diabetes Training Inc (Canada)
23. LIGUE CONTRE L'OBESITE

Partner Organizations

1. American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE)
2. American Association for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS)
3. American Diabetes Association (ADA)
4. Diabetes UK
5. European Association for the Study of Obesity (EASO)
6. International Federation for the Surgery of Obesity and metabolic Disorders (IFSO)
7. Obesity Action Coalition (OAC)
8. Obesity Canada
9. The Obesity Society (TOS) – USA
10. World Obesity Federation (WOF)

Other Scientific and Patient Societies

1. American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM)
2. American Society for Nutrition (ASN)
3. Association of British Clinical Diabetologists (ABCD)
4. The Australian National Association of Clinical Obesity Services (NACOS)
5. Australian and New Zealand Metabolic and Obesity Surgery Society (ANZMOSS)
6. Austrian Society for Obesity and Metabolic Surgery
7. Brazilian Society for Bariatric and Metabolic Surgery (SBCBM)
8. British Obesity and Metabolic Surgery Society (BOMSS)
9. Canadian Association of Bariatric Physicians and Surgeons (CABPS)
10. Canadian Association of Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation (CACPR)
11. Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists/Association Canadienne des ergothérapeutes
12. Canadian Psychiatric Association
13. The Canadian Society of Endocrinology and Metabolism (CSEM)
14. CIHR-SPOR Chair in Innovative, Patient-Oriented, Behavioural Clinical Trials.
15. Chilean Society for Bariatric and Metabolic Surgery
16. Colegio Mexicano de Cirurgia Para la Obesidad y Enfermedades Metabolicas
17. Croatian Society of Obesity
18. Dietitians of Canada
19. Dutch Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (DSMBS)
20. The Endocrine Society (USA)
21. European Coalition for People Living with Obesity (ECPO)
22. French Clinical Research Network in Obesity (FORCE)
23. French Society for Research and Care of Obesity (AFERO)
24. French Society of Bariatric and Metabolic Surgery (SOFFCO-MM)
25. Hellenic Medical Association for Obesity (HMAO)
26. Hellenic Society for Bariatric and Metabolic Surgery
27. Hellenic Society for the Study of Obesity, Metabolism and Eating Disorders
28. Hong Kong Association for the Study of Obesity
29. Hong Kong Obesity Society
30. Hong Kong Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery
31. Hungarian Society for the Study of Obesity
32. International Behavioural Trials Network (IBTN)
33. International Society for the Perioperative Care of the Obese Patient (ISPCOP)
34. Irish Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism (IrSPEN)
35. The Israeli Association for the Study of Obesity
36. Italian Obesity Society (SIO)
37. Korean Society for the Study of Obesity (KSSO)
38. Latin American Federation of Obesity (FLASO)
39. The Lithuanian Society of Bariatric Surgery
40. Mexican Society of Obesity
41. National Lipid Association (USA)
42. Norwegian Society for the Surgery of Obesity
43. Obesity Australia
44. Obesity Care Advocacy Network (OCAN)
45. Obesity Collective
46. Obesity Medicine Association (USA)
47. Obesity Society of Nigeria
48. The Obesity Surgery Society India (OSSI)
49. Obesity UK
50. Romanian Bariatric Society
51. Romanian Federation of Diabetes, Nutrition, Metabolic diseases
52. The Royal College of Physicians -RCP- (UK)
53. Russian Society of Bariatric Surgeons
54. Sociedad Argentina de Cirugia de la Obesidad Enfermedad Metabolica y Otras
55. Relacionados con la Obesidad
56. Sociedad Argentina de Obesidad y Trastornos Alimentarios
57. The Sociedad Española de Cirugía de la Obesidad y Enfermedades Metabólicas (SECO)
58. Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons (SAGES)
59. Society of Behavioral Medicine (SBM)
60. The Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract (SSAT)
61. South African Society for Surgery Obesity and Metabolism
62. UK Association for the Study of Obesity
63. Kayl Association for Combating Obesity

Scientific/Medical Journals

1. The Annals of Surgery
2. Cell Metabolism (Cell Press)
3. Cell Reports Medicine (Cell Press)
4. Clinical Obesity
5. The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology
6. Med (Cell Press)
7. All Nature Research Journals
8. Obesity
9. Obesity Reviews
10. Obesity Science and Practice
11. Obesity Surgery
12. Pediatric Obesity
13. Surgery for Obesity and Related Diseases (SOARD)
14. Trends in Endocrinology and Metabolism (Cell Press)
15. Trends in Molecular Medicine (Cell Press)

Academic Institutions and Hospitals

1. Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute. Melbourne, Australia
2. The Charles Perkins Institute, University of Sydney (Australia)
3. Geisinger Obesity Institute; Geisinger Health System; Danville, PA (USA)
4. King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (UK)
5. King’s College London (UK)
6. London Bridge Hospital, London (UK)
7. Pennington Biomedical Research Center (USA)
8. Specialized Centers for Obesity Management -GCC-CSO (France)
9. St Vincent Private Hospital, Dublin (Ireland)
10. Summer M. Redstone Center, Milken Institute School of Public Health, George
11. Washington University (USA)
12. Technische Universität Dresden; Faculty of Medicine Carl Gustav Carus (Germany)
13. Transcampus of Technische Universität Dresden; Faculty of Medicine Carl Gustav
14. Carus (Germany) and King’s College London
15. University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (UK)
16. University of Connecticut Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity (USA)
17. The Veneto Obesity Network (Italy)
18. The Center for Obesity and Diabetes, Oswaldo Cruz German Hospital, Sao Paulo,
19. (Brazil)
20. North Bristol NHS Trust

Parliamentary Groups

• The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Obesity – APPG
• A Group of cross-party members of the House of Commons and House of Lords

Industry

• Medtronic
• Ethicon
• WW (Formerly Weight Watchers)
• Novo Nordisk
• GI Dynamics

 

Individuals:

Academy for Eating Disorders	Elaine Hildebrandt	Kirstin Hellard	Peter Small
Aggie Sobanska	Elena Ruiz-Úcar	Kobus DIjkhorst	Philippe Palat
Agnès Maurin	Elisa Bagni	Kourosh Ghorbani-Zarin	Phoebe Wood
Ahmad Bashir	Elissa Myers	Kristine Godziuk	Pierre DECHELOTTE
Ajanta Kamal	ELIZABETH DETTMER	Kwang-Wei Tham	Professor Suzanne Norris
Alastair Lynn	Elizabeth Egan	Lars Alling	Professor Tim Underwood
alba xhixha	Elly Park	Laura Boyer	Rachael Wall
Alberto Borraccino	Emanuele Bosi	Laura Falvey	Rachel Elliott
Alessandra Valerio	Emilio de Felipe	Laura Johnson	Rachel Ignomirello
Alexandre Benani	Enda Mulvany	laure fredj	Rafael Bravo
Alexandro Zarruk	Enrico Prosperi	lauren grossman	Raffaele Limauro
ALEXIS ELIAS MALAVAZOS	Esmeralda Capristo	Lauren Wedekind	Raghav Bansal
Ali Zentner	ESSA ALEASSA	Laurie Twells	Rasminder Kaur
Alison Palmer	Estrella Menendez	Lavanya Parashivakumar	Rebecca Deans
Allen Browne	Eugenia Romano	Leigh Anne Linville	rebecca fancini
Allie Lougheed	Eva Gabarró Rodríguez	Lianna Titheridge	Rebecca Rawlings-Hall
Allison Ibrah8m	Eva Pereda-Pereda	Lindes Callejas-Diaz	Rebecca Richards
Amanda Waning	Exercise is Medicine Canada	Lisa Plank	Rhodri King
AMRO BOHSALI	fabiana stolman	Lisa Richardson	Riccardo Lera
Amy Smith	Faris Alassaf	Lise Lafargue	Riccardo Polzoni
Anders Backe	Farnaz Rahimi	Lizzy Cunliffe-Jones	Richard Larouche
Andre Tchernof	Fatima Waqar	Louise Tully	Rita Clifford
Andrea Bretal	Federica Zanetto	Luca Busetto	Roberta Jaccheri
Andrew Beamish	Federico Luis Moya	Lucia Frittita	Robin Blackstone
Ane Kokkvoll	Fiona Kate Barlow	Lucille McGraw	Rochelle Blacklock
Angela Chesworth	francesco baggiani	LUCY NUGENT	Rodolfo Vasconcelos
Angelica Magdaleno	Francesco Cavagnini	Luiz Mestieri	Rosa Tricia Asiain vazquez
Anil Asrani	Frederic BOST	Lynne JOHNSTON	Rosanne Rust, MS, RDN, LDN
Anna Belligoli	Gail Pinnock	Macarena Rueda	Rosie Childerhose
anna ciampolillo	Geeta Achyuthan	Madalena Dearden	RUBEN LOPEZ PUERTA
Anna Dayer Jankechova	Gemma Fagan	Mahsa Ghoreishi	Ruth McCarthy
Antoine EPIN	Georgia Giannopoulos	Majella O’Keeffe	S. Bryn Austin
ANTONIO PRATESI	Georgie Sowman	Manoel Galvao Neto	Saida BAYNA
Arianna Salgado	Ghislain Grodard	Marcela Rodriguez Flores	Samantha Boyce
Ashish Desai	Ghislaine PICARD	Marco Bueter	Samer Humadi
Ashleigh Middleton	Giovanni Ceccarini	margaret easton	Sandi Tymchuk
Ashley Bissett	Giulio Marchesini	Margy O'Connor	Sandy Duxbury
Ashley McCarthy	Gregory Pacyk	Maria Grazia Carbonelli	Sanjana Khaira
Asociación Bariatrica Hispalis	Guido Donato	maria ines alonso	Sara Kirk
Audrey Chognard	Hanen Samouda	Maria Letizia Petroni	Sara Squires
Béatrice Eulalie	Harald Tigges	Maria Yao	Sarah Browne
Béatrice Morio-Liondore	Harry Rutter	Marianne Guenot	Sarah Chapelsky
BEGOÑA GIL BARCENILLA	Heather Angell	Marie Mannion	Sarah Deemer
Bernadette Keenan	Heather Eggins	Marie-Eve Brideau	Sarah Gullins
Bernard North	Helen Mccarthy	Marina Payen	Sarah Hart
Bex Foreman	Helen Mitchell	Marlena Skrabak	Sarah Nutter
Boris Pomortsev	Hellas Cena	Marlène Galantier	Sasha High
Brad Hussey	Hilary MacKenzie	Martha Acevedo	Scott Schorer
Brendan Mallia-Milanes	Hilda Mulrooney	Martina de Zwaan	sebastien grigioni
Brianna Leon	Ian Patton	martine LAVILLE	seedo seedo
Brittany Gurgel	Ioannis Linas	Mary Forhan	Sergio Bernasconi
Brooke LaFlamme	Isabel Silva	Maryfrances White	Sergio Macho García
Bruce Schirmer	Ivana Anusic	Massimo Cuzzolaro	Shabnam Kar
Bruno da Costa	J. Chris Eagon	Matt Hutter	Sharon Krzyzanowski
Callum Garner	Jacob Seidell	Maura Murphy	Sheena Bhageerutty
Camillo Ezio Di Flaviano	Jacqueline Jacques	Maureen Hirschfeld	SHEILA ABADIANO
Carley O'Kane	Jacqueline Rabenstein	Maureen Mosti	Shelley Martin
CARLOS ALBERTO CARDOSO DEL ALAMO	Jacques Himpens	Maxime Legendre	Shelly Russell-Mayhew
Carly Hughes	Jakob Jakobsen	Maxime St-Pierre	Sheree Bryant
Carol Frederick	James Byrne	Maxine Taylor	Sheri MacKenzie
Carol Harper	James Crosbie	Mckenzie Dow	Shona Jackson
Carol Pizzuti	James Doering	Megan Hicks	Silvia Mauri
Carolina Siqueira	James McCarthy	Megan Smyth	Simone Davies
Cassandra sääf	Jan Jablonski	Mélissa PHILIS	Sofia Makin
Caterina Conte	Janet M Lambert	Melissa Smith	Sofiia Desiateryk
Catherine O Sullivan	Janet Peterson	Melody Harding	Solveig Sigurdardottir
catherine birken	Janice Knapp	Michael Crotty	Sridar Govindaraj
Catherine Lin	Javier Arce	Michael Mantell, Ph.D.	Stefan Engeli
Cathy Breen	Jean O'Connell	MICHAEL PELLEN	Stefania Brovero
Cecilia Prieto	Jean-Philippe Magema	Michael Sutker	Stefanie Gerlach
Charlie Hirschfeld	Jean-Philippe Chaput	Michael Vallis	Stefano Gorini
Charlotte Matthysen	Jeanine Sherman	Michel Blais	Stephanie Tölle
Chiara Maffei	Jennifer Brown	Michel Suter	Stephanie Ray
Chloe Barry	Jennifer Sargent	Michelle Archer	Stina Ståhl
Christel Glinker	Jessica Catchpole	Michelle Vicari	Sue Jacques
Christian Tatschl	Jessica Walsh	Miguel Brito	Susan Sheldon
Christina Blekkenhorst	Jill Hamilton	Miriam Avendaño	Susana Fernandez
Christina Norlin	Jill Harrison	Mirjam Heinen	Susie Birney
Christine Chin	Jilla King	Mirto Foletto	suzanne grady
Christine Feillet-Coudray	Jilly Gibson Miller	Mitchell Roslin	Sylvain Iceta
Christine Hellendy	Jim Hewes	MOHAMMAD ALKILANI	sylvain iceta
Christine Rosenbloom	joanna nicholls	Mohammed Al-Anati	Sylvie UTHURRIAGUE
Christof Buser	Joanna Tan	Monica Roldan Suarez	Tami Higa
Claire Lee	Joanne Cloughton	Mourad LYOUBI	Taniya Nagpal
CLARA CCOUILLANDEAU	Joanne wong	Ms Glassar	Tim Edgar
Claudia Coelho	Jodi Mitchell	Nadia Edeis	Tony Goldstone
Claudio Maffeis	Joëlle BERNARDON	Nadia nappi	trewtewhr bdfhbnhjf
connie stuart	Joerg Zehetner	Nadya Isack	Triona Lord
Corrigan McBride	Jonathan Gabor	Nagammapudur Balaji	Valentina Vitiello
Cristina Parrino	Jose Eduardo Garcia Flores	Nakul Bhatia	Vandhana Patel
cynthia buffington	Joseph Nadglowski	Nancy Robinson	Vanessa Terrier
Dale Bond	Joseph O Leary	Nathalie MAZURE	Velos Christou
Dalila Ribeiro	Joyce Cheung	Niamh Arthurs	VENKATESH KANAKALA
Dana Gibson	Judith MacDonald	Nicola Heslehurst	Verónica Vázquez Velázquez
daniela consonni	Julia Reading	Nicola Michaud	Veronika Benesova
Danielle Lefebvre	julie kleeberger	Nicola Nzuza	Vicki-Anne Rodrigue
Daryl Tol	Julie St-Pierre	Nicole Houghtaling	victoria millay
David Hopson	Julien Lacoue-Labarthe	Nicole Pearce	Victoria Buiza Fernández
David Sánchez-Carracedo	Justine Thacker	Nina Crowley	Vincent Attalin
Dawn Hatanaka	Juthika Pal	nina Stuart	Vincenzo Trischitta
Deborah Ng	Kaitlyn Poole	Obesidades Mexico	Walter Lindstrom
Deborah Stewart	Karen Gaynor	Olivia Sewell	Walter Pories
Deepa D	Karen Capuzzi	P Wupperman	Warren Collmer
Dennis Smith	Karen L Godfrey	Paloma Zubieta	Wendy Clem
Desmond Hughes	Karen Patte	Pam Sheeran	Werner Göttling
Diana Maria Castillo Serrano	Karen Tan	Paolo Pilla	Willie Pallares
Dima Aboukasm	Karl Miller	Paolo SBRACCIA	Ximena Ramos Salas
Dina Benetti	karlijn burridge	Pascal Turbide	Yasmin King
Donna Cameron	Kathryn Bourque	Patricia Mayorquin	Yeiris Soto
Dorothee LAUVAUX	Kathy Hebert	Patrick Ferreira	Zaher Toumi
Dr Niranjan P	Kayl Association for Combating obesity non-profit organization	Patty Nece	Zahraa Abdul Sater
Eduardo Doval	Keith Godfrey	Paul Chesworth	Zulema Rodriguez
EDUARDO Márquez	Kelly Proulx	Paul Davidson