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BackgroundIn an era when obesity prevalence is high throughout much of the world, there is a correspondingly pervasive and strong culture of weight stigma. For example, representative studies show that some forms of weight discrimination are more prevalent even than discrimination based on race or ethnicity.DiscussionIn this Opinion article, we review compelling evidence that weight stigma is harmful to health, over and above objective body mass index. Weight stigma is prospectively related to heightened mortality and other chronic diseases and conditions. Most ironically, it actually begets heightened risk of obesity through multiple obesogenic pathways. Weight stigma is particularly prevalent and detrimental in healthcare settings, with documented high levels of 'anti-fat' bias in healthcare providers, patients with obesity receiving poorer care and having worse outcomes, and medical students with obesity reporting high levels of alcohol and substance use to cope with internalized weight stigma. In terms of solutions, the most effective and ethical approaches should be aimed at changing the behaviors and attitudes of those who stigmatize, rather than towards the targets of weight stigma. Medical training must address weight bias, training healthcare professionals about how it is perpetuated and on its potentially harmful effects on their patients.ConclusionWeight stigma is likely to drive weight gain and poor health and thus should be eradicated. This effort can begin by training compassionate and knowledgeable healthcare providers who will deliver better care and ultimately lessen the negative effects of weight stigma.

Objectives Advance care planning (ACP), which comprises a living will, durable power of attorney for healthcare (DPAHC), and end-of-life discussions, is an inherently relational process. However, it is unclear how marital status affects men's and women's ACP over the life course. Drawing on social control and gender-as-relational frameworks, we examine marital status differences in ACP and how these patterns differ by gender and age. Methods Data are from the 2020 Health and Retirement Study (HRS), a representative sample of U.S. older adults (N  = 7,074). We estimate logistic regression models to evaluate whether marital status differences in ACP are moderated by age and gender, and multinomial logistic regressions to examine age and gender differences in DPAHC designations among married parents. Analyses are adjusted for sociodemographic and health covariates. Results Multivariable analyses revealed significant moderation effects for discussions only. Among married/cohabiting persons, women are more likely than men to have end-of-life discussions, with gender differences diminishing slightly at oldest ages. Among divorced persons in their 60s and 70s, women are much more likely than men to have had discussions, although this gap converges among the oldest-old. Conversely, young-old widowed men and women are equally likely to have discussions, although women are increasingly likely to do so with advancing age. Men are more likely than women to name their spouse as DPAHC, yet this gap diminishes with age. Discussion Healthcare providers can better guide end-of-life consultations if they understand how men's and women's family relationships change with advancing age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]