The challenge of tackling weight stigma through the legal system in Germany

Abstract

Abstract Weight stigma is a growing public health problem that has not yet received the attention it deserves. The UN and the WHO both identified discrimination as a crucial obstacle in solving health inequalities. The Lancet recently acknowledged the central role of discrimination in health inequality and specifically called to address weight stigma. Weight stigma is responsible for a vast array of health problems including but not limited to high cortisol, high blood pressure, mood and anxiety disorders, and depression. Weight stigma is correlated with eating disorders, the avoidance of exercise, and further weight gain. Weight stigma in healthcare affects the quality of services and leads to the avoidance of health consultations. Anti-discrimination laws are one way of dealing with the harmful effects of stigma. They have proven to be effective in rising awareness for discrimination, thereby directly and indirectly helping those most affected by unequal treatment. Germany introduced the General Equal Treatment Act in 2006. More than ten years later the effects of the law were evaluated. With regard to weight stigma important obstacles were found. Since weight is not a protected characteristic in the law, people who experience weight stigma can only make their claims by referring to disability-related discrimination, leaving many who suffer from weight stigma but aren't classified or do not perceive themselves as disabled at the side lines. If public health wants to successfully challenge the obesogenic environment without harming people of size meaningful measures to avoid discrimination have to be established. But in order to successfully implement laws tackling weight discrimination it is necessary to cover weight stigma explicitly. There is already a high level of support for these kinds of measures in a variety of countries, and there are examples of successfully implemented anti-discrimination laws that include weight as a protected characteristic. Key messages It is impossible to successfully tackle the obesity epidemic without confronting the parallel epidemic of weight stigma, thereby removing the burden of change from those experiencing mistreatments. Weight stigma is a crucial public health problem that can be tackled by anti-discrimination laws. In order to be efficient these laws have to explicitly include weight as a protected characteristic.