Potential Policies and Laws to Prohibit Weight Discrimination: Public Views from 4 Countries

• Published in: The Milbank Quarterly
• Main Authors: PUHL, REBECCA M., LATNER, JANET D., O'BRIEN, KERRY S., LUEDICKE, JOERG, DANIELSDOTTIR, SIGRUN, SALAS, XIMENA RAMOS
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 2015
• Subjects: Canada; Iceland
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1468-0009.12162; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2F1468-0009.12162; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/1468-0009.12162

Policy Points : Policies and legal protections against weight‐based discrimination have broad public support in 4 nations where this discrimination is widely documented. Public support was strongest for policies and laws that would prohibit employers from denying employment, assigning lower wages, and refusing promotion to people based on their weight status. Women and individuals with higher weight expressed the greatest support. Weight discrimination is common in numerous life settings, creating social and economic inequities and adverse health outcomes. Policies and legal measures protecting against such discrimination need to be developed and implemented in the United States and elsewhere and would have considerable public support. Context People viewed as “overweight” or “obese” are vulnerable to weight‐based discrimination, creating inequities and adverse health outcomes. Given the high rates of obesity recorded globally, studies documenting weight discrimination in multiple countries, and an absence of legislation to address this form of discrimination, research examining policy remedies across different countries is needed. Our study provides the first multinational examination of public support for policies and legislation to prohibit weight discrimination. Methods Identical online surveys were completed by 2,866 adults in the United States, Canada, Australia, and Iceland. We assessed public support for potential laws to prohibit weight‐based discrimination, such as adding body weight to existing civil rights statutes, extending disability protections to persons with obesity, and instituting legal measures to prohibit employers from discriminating against employees because of body weight. We examined sociodemographic and weight‐related characteristics predicting support for antidiscrimination policies, and the differences in these patterns across countries. Findings The majority of participants in the United States, Canada, and Australia agreed that their government should have specific laws in place to ...