Obesity is a growing health problem in the US. In addition to the health problems associated with being grossly overweight, obese individuals also must confront stigma and social exclusion. Weight bias and negative attitudes towards the obese have been widely confirmed in numerous professions. The purpose of this article is two-fold: (1) to discuss the implications of weight-related stigma on obese clients; and (2) to offer pedagogical approaches for reducing discriminatory attitudes against overweight individuals, among MSW students, so that they may provide more effective clinical services to clients struggling with obesity.

The childhood and adolescent overweight and obesity rates are rising at an alarming rate. Numerous individual, family, community, and social factors contribute to overweight and obesity in children and are explored. If left unaddressed, the epidemic of childhood and adolescent overweight and obesity may lead to amplified problems for individual children--including acute and chronic physical and psychological complications--and for the larger social environment. National efforts by researchers in a myriad of disciplines are underway to address this the issue at the individual, family, and community levels. These efforts include many steps with which social workers should seek to align themselves in terms of their own research and collaborative research and several barriers that hold practice implications for social workers. The importance of social work intervention and collaboration within primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention levels is explored.

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