New guidance supports the End Weight Stigma campaign and calls for more respectful, person-first, and scientifically accurate communication about obesity
SILVER SPRING, Md., June 4, 2026 — The Obesity Society (TOS), the leading U.S. organization advancing the science, treatment, and prevention of obesity, today announced the release of a new policy brief, Speaking the Language of Obesity: Guidance for Obesity-Related Conversations, Research, Education, and Publications, as part of its ongoing End Weight Stigma campaign.
The policy brief provides recommendations for healthcare professionals, researchers, educators, policymakers, advocates, media professionals, and the public on how to discuss obesity in ways that reduce bias, support dignity, and reflect current obesity science. The guidance recognizes that language plays a powerful role in shaping public perceptions, healthcare experiences, treatment engagement, research, and policy decisions.
The release comes as obesity continues to affect millions of individuals worldwide and as awareness grows around the harmful effects of weight bias and stigma. Research has consistently shown that stigma can contribute to discrimination, delayed care-seeking, reduced trust in healthcare providers, poorer health outcomes, and barriers to evidence-based treatment.
The policy brief encourages the use of person-first language, such as “person with obesity,” rather than labels that define individuals by their disease. It also recommends eliminating terminology that assigns blame, shame, or personal responsibility for a complex chronic condition influenced by biological, environmental, social, and behavioral factors. The guidance further calls for increased bias-reduction education in healthcare and academic settings and urges media and public communications to accurately reflect the science of obesity.
Among the recommendations, TOS advises referring to pharmacologic therapies used to treat obesity as “obesity medications” rather than “anti-obesity medications,” noting that adversarial terminology can unintentionally reinforce stigma and undermine recognition of obesity as a chronic disease.
The policy brief also outlines policy objectives aimed at reducing weight bias and discrimination, including promoting consistent use of person-first language, incorporating stigma-sensitive measures into quality and healthcare improvement efforts, expanding access to evidence-based obesity care, and improving how obesity is portrayed in public discourse.
The release of Speaking the Language of Obesity builds upon TOS’s End Weight Stigma campaign, a global initiative dedicated to challenging misconceptions about obesity and reducing weight bias across healthcare, workplaces, education, media, and society. Through education, advocacy, and awareness, the campaign encourages individuals and organizations to recognize obesity as a complex, chronic disease and to foster more respectful, evidence-based conversations about people living with obesity.
The full policy brief and information about the End Weight Stigma campaign are available at obesity.org.
To learn more and sign the pledge, visit www.obesity.org/end-weight-stigma.
About The Obesity Society (TOS)
The Obesity Society (TOS) is the leading scientific organization dedicated to advancing the understanding, prevention, and treatment of obesity. Through research, education, and evidence-based advocacy, TOS promotes a comprehensive and science-driven approach to addressing obesity as a serious, chronic, and treatable disease. The Society’s members include scientists, clinicians, policymakers, and other professionals working to improve health outcomes and reduce the global impact of obesity. Learn more at www.obesity.org.