Reducing Educators' Weight Bias: The Role of School-Based Anti-Bullying Policies.

BACKGROUND Educators' negative weight biases toward students with high body weight have been well-documented. The present investigation examined whether inclusion of body weight in school anti-bullying policies is associated with lower levels of weight bias among educators. METHODS Data on explicit weight bias was collected from a sample of secondary school teachers and principals in the United States (N = 246) and examined in relation to the presence of weight-related language in each participant's school district anti-bullying policy. RESULTS The results indicate that, although educators on average make negative judgments about individuals with high weight, these biases were lower for educators whose school district anti-bullying policy included enumeration of body weight. Notably, this association did not hold when policies enumerated "appearance." CONCLUSIONS The study findings suggest that the explicit mention of "weight" in school anti-bullying policies may represent a feasible mechanism to reduce explicit weight bias among U.S. secondary school educators.