Addressing Structural Racism, Bias, and Health Communication as Foundational Drivers of Obesity

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine's Roundtable on Obesity Solutions convened a three-part workshop series that explored how structural racism, weight bias and stigma, and health communication intersect with obesity, gaps in the evidence base, and challenges and opportunities for long-term, systems-wide strategies needed to reduce the incidence and prevalence of obesity.Through diverse examples across different levels and sectors of society, the workshops explored how to leverage the connections between these three drivers and innovative data-driven and policy approaches to inform actionable priorities for individuals, organizations, and policymakers to make lasting systems change.Table of ContentsFront Matter1 Introduction2 An Introduction to the Intersection of Structural Racism, BiasedMental Models, Stigma, Weight Bias, and Effective HealthCommunication with Obesity Solutions3 The Intersection of Structural Racism and Obesity4 The Intersection of Biased Mental Models, Stigma, Weight Bias,and Obesity5 Reflections on the Intersections of Structural Racism, BiasedMental Models, Stigma, and Weight Bias with Obesity6 Operationalizing Health Communication for Obesity Solutions7 Data-Driven Obesity Solutions and Innovative Approaches8 Innovative Policy Solutions9 Reflections on Equity-Centered Approaches to Reducing thePrevalence of Obesity10 Leveraging Data for Systems Change: Connecting Obesity and ItsUnderlying Determinants11 Systems Applications to Address Structural Barriers to ObesitySolutions12 Policy Solutions for Nutrition Security and Obesity13 A Multisector Conversation on Systems-Levels Changes for ObesitySolutions14 PatientProvider Communication around Obesity Treatment andSolutionsReferencesAppendix A: Workshop AgendasAppendix B: Acronyms and AbbreviationsAppendix C: Biographical Sketches of Workshop Speakers and PlanningCommittee Members