With all the impacts of social pressures and cultural beliefs related to body image and size, ones mental health can be impacted. As with being a member of any historically marginalized community, or community which faces stigma and bias, mental health is significantly impacted. The articles and podcasts here explore what it is like to have an “unhealthy” weight and how it impacts one’s daily living and moving through society. Bodies are talked about throughout popular culture, which impacts how people not only view themselves, but judge their worth and that of others. Hopefully this section sheds some light on that.
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What role do our genes play in influencing our body weight and what we like to eat? Why do some people gain weight more easily than others, and is it all down to genes or are there other factors at play? In this episode, we talked with a clinician and scientist Sadaf Farooqi, health psychologist Theresa Marteau, and geographer Thomas Burgoine about the multitude of factors that go into influencing our eating behaviours. Along the way, we hear about the crucial importance of the environment in influencing our eating behaviour, including “zoning” - the effort to keep fast food outlets no more than 400 yards from schools, and learn how our food has become more calorific over the past 20 to 30 years. Our guests discuss how ultimately, communicating information about obesity doesn’t necessarily change our behaviour towards food, as we are much more influenced by our genes and environment than what's inside our heads.
While we don't own these books, they are relevant to this topic and might help provide additional guidance. We recommend checking with your local library. Boston Public Library offers free library eCards for MA residents (and for those living in MA while attending school in-state or who work for a MA employer). These free eCards allow you to access their online resources (which includes large collection of eBooks/AudioBooks/and more from OverDrive and Hoopla).
The Body Is Not an Apology, 2nd ed. by 
Hunger by 
Weightless: Making Space for my Resilient Body and Soul by 
“You Just Need to Lose Weight”: And 19 Other Myths About Fat People by 
