Dr. Fiona Willer on reducing weight stigma in community health

Dr. Fiona Willer is an Advanced Accredited Practising Dietitian and Fellow of the Higher Education Academy renowned for her advocacy of weight-neutral practices in healthcare. 

Throughout the podcast episode, Fiona shares insights on why a weight neutral approach is necessary to progress population wellbeing, and how community health and food practitioners can identify weight stigma within programs and policies to challenge the obesity-centric language often used in these contexts. 

With a rich background in university lecturing, private practice, and clinical dietetics, Fiona's expertise extends across diverse domains, including dietetic private practice benchmarking and Health at Every Size (HAES) integration into dietetics. As the founder of Health Not Diets, Fiona pioneers professional development training and workshops aimed at integrating HAES principles into clinical practice.

For further information, check out Fiona's website, researcher profile at QUT,  Linked In, and X profiles. 

Key links:

• Willer F. The Weight Stigma Heat Map: A tool to identify weight stigma in public health and health promotion materials. Health Promot J Austral. 2023. 
• Fiona's Podcast: Unpacking Weight Science 
• Book: If not dieting, then what? by Rick Kausman

This episode touches on topics that you may find distressing, including weight stigma and disordered eating. Please check who’s listening in and take a break if you need to. 

If you are in distress and need help 24/7 in Australia

• Lifeline (131114)
• 13 Yarn (139276) for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander listeners 
• Emergency services (000)

If you need to talk to someone about an eating disorder 

• The Butterfly Foundation (1800 33 4673, not a crisis line)

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CREDITS
Host: Sophie Wright-Pedersen
With thanks to Dr. Fiona Willer for her time and thoughts

The Foodies in the Field podcast would like to acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which this podcast was made, the Turrbal and Yuggera people of Meanjin, as well as where you may be listening from today. We pay respects to elders both past and present and acknowledge that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were the first foodies of this nation where food systems, knowledge and practices have always been deeply embedded in this country long before colonisation.

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