The Stigma of Disease and Disability

A chapter featuring Rebecca Puhl (Yale) and my obesity stigma research was just published In Corrigan's edited issue The Stigma of Disease and Disability published by the American Psychological Association. 

Feeling Bullied by Parents About Weight

Rudd Center research published in New York Times Well Blog post by Harriet Brown: Feeling Bullied by Parents About Weight. Read Full Article Here. 

“There still remains the widespread perception that a little stigma can be a good thing, that it might motivate weight loss,” said Dr. Puhl, a clinical psychologist. (Medical doctors, too, fall prey to this misconception.) But research done at the Rudd Center and elsewhere has shown that even well-intentioned commentary from parents and other adults can trigger disordered eating, use of laxatives and other dangerous weight-control practices, and depression.

Campers at Camp Shane in Ferndale, N.Y., one of two camps for overweight children that participated in a study published in Pediatrics.Credit David Ettenberg

Don’t Call My Kid Fat! Parents Want Doctors to Talk About ‘Unhealthy Weight’

Rudd Center research published in article on Time Magazine website. 

With 2 million U.S. children classified as extremely obese, it’s impossible to ignore kids’ growing girth. But researchers at the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University are suggesting that there are better, more sensitive ways to discuss the issue with parents and children.

“Many people find the term ‘fat’ to be pejorative and judgmental,” says Rebecca Puhl, the study’s lead author and Rudd’s director of research. “A lot of the time, providers have positive intentions, but the language they use can be seen as blaming, accusatory and not helpful.”

Read full article here.