Amy MacDonald

Bio: Amy MacDonald completed her undergraduate and master’s degrees at Brescia University College at Western University in London Ontario. She has been working as a public health dietitian for the last 16 years. Amy often speaks about the harms of weight bias, stigma, and discrimination and the benefits of weight-neutral and weight-inclusive approaches. As a married mom of two kids and two dogs, Amy spends her spare time hiking, coaching soccer and ringette, playing pick-up hockey, gardening and enjoying good food.

Workshop Description: Over the last 50 years, health promotion has typically taken a weight-centric approach. There is now consensus that weight bias, stigma and discrimination are harmful to health promotion efforts and the connection between weight and health is a lot more complicated than we’ve been led to believe. Engaging in exercise for appearance and weight-related reasons undermine the multitude of benefits of physical activity. Experiences of weight bias, stigma and discrimination have a significant impact on individuals’ current and future physical activity and movement opportunities. This presentation will provide a brief overview of the research and focus on strategies to make physical activities and spaces more body-inclusive. By prioritizing making movement opportunities inclusive for all body shapes and sizes we can:

• Foster positive body image,

• Prevent stigmatizing experiences that are barriers to participation in physical activity, and

• Promote enjoyable and sustainable physical activity participation across the lifespan.