Ditching Weight Stigma and Anti-Fat Bias at School

Cait O’Connor (@JustTeachingELA) is an eighth-grade English/ENL teacher in Larchmont, New York. She is also a middle school American Sign Language Club advisor, mental health peer advocate, and an advocate for LGBTQIA+ youth, size inclusivity, peer-community engagement, and disability justice.

"Teachers, get ready to unlearn everything you think you know about health in schools. In Ditching Weight Stigma and Anti-Fat Bias at School, Cait O'Connor skillfully breaks down misinformation about health, size, food, and weight and gives teachers practical strategies to put their understanding into action. O'Connor makes the case that these topics are not just the responsibility of the health teacher, PE teacher, or school nurse, but a shared responsibility among everyone in a young person's life. You'll finish the book fired up to make change."Alex Shevrin Venet, author of Equity Centered Trauma Informed Education and Becoming an Everyday Changemaker“As someone who considers myself both a liberatory educator and a body-neutral teacher, parent, and human, Ditching Weight Stigma and Anti-Fat Bias at School exposes how much farther we all must go in evaluating how and what we teach about bodies. The book argues that anti-fat bias is so ingrained in our society, it’s often hidden in the margins of curriculum and if we aren’t actively fighting it, we’re causing harm. Students deserve better, and this book is an explication on how to move ourselves and our schools forward. O’Connor’s work is a rare gem that is thoughtful, accessible, and actionable from the first chapter, and I’m inspired to continue my own personal and professional journey against anti-fatness and liberation through the lens of this book. It’s a must-read ASAP."Chanea Bond, literacy educator and scholar

• Part 1: Press Play 1. Introduction 2. Facing the Music: Seeing Anti-Fat Bias as a Problem 3. “We’ve Been Waiting for You”: Changing the Built Environment 4. The Health/Phys Ed Trauma is Over (If You Want It): Health, PE, and Anti-Fat Bias Part 2: Hit Pause 5. The Miseducation of Everyone: Weight Stigma across Content Areas 6. Cheeseburgers in Paradise: School Lunch, Food, and Diet Culture 7. School’s Out: Fighting Weight Stigma in Extracurricular Activity Part 3: The Remix 8. Workin’ 7-3: Anti-Fat Bias and the Teacher Day 9. We’re All in This Together: Collaborating for Change