THURS-035 - Shifting the Narrative to Improve Health Outcomes: Weight-inclusive Nutrition as Primary Prevention

Brief Abstract Summary: Discover how shifting from a weight-normative to a weight-inclusive approach transforms nutrition education and health promotion. Learn to distinguish the two paradigms and understand why weight-inclusive strategies foster healthier outcomes by reducing stigma, preventing disordered eating, and supporting positive relationships with food and body. Gain practical tools and action steps to integrate this framework into high school and college classrooms as well as professional health education practice, empowering educators to advocate for and create more equitable and health-promoting spaces.

Detailed abstract description: The weight-normative approach to nutrition education dominates health education programming and policies across the United States, despite limited evidence of success and ample evidence that this paradigm contributes to negative outcomes including weight cycling, weight bias and stigma, the development of disordered eating behaviors, and weight-based bullying. These outcomes, in turn, play a significant role in both physical and mental health. For the past 3 years, the Weight-Inclusive Nutrition (WIN) Group at the University of Vermont has conducted research to inform the development of a Weight-Inclusive (WI) curriculum for high school health teachers that supports students in building beneficial relationships with food and body. Faculty at the University of Vermont also include the WI paradigm across various undergraduate public health and nutrition courses. The WIN group is now expanding to develop professional development materials for teachers, sports coaches, administrators, and other health and health education professionals.
For health educators, this shift is not only timely but necessary. Health education professionals are uniquely positioned to shape how young people, and entire communities, understand and experience health. Continuing to rely on a weight-normative paradigm perpetuates harmful cycles of stigma and exclusion, undermining the very goals of education and health promotion and increasing health disparities. In contrast, adopting a weight-inclusive framework equips professionals to foster environments that value body diversity, emphasize health-promoting behaviors over body size, identify the social determinants underlying nutritional decision making and reduce the long-term harms associated with weight stigma. This transition is essential for improving health outcomes, and cultivating equity and true well-being among individuals and populations. By implementing and advocating for weight-inclusive pedagogy and practice, health educators can dismantle systemic barriers to health, support more effective education, and ultimately contribute to a cultural shift toward inclusive and sustainable health promotion.
This presentation will provide an overview of the work that has been done by the WIN team to date, future plans, discuss action steps and share practical ways to incorporate weight-inclusive pedagogy into high school and college classes as well as health education and health promotion practice and advocacy.