Community

At Obesity Matters we want to build a community where we can come together to find ongoing support through forums and conversations, share personal stories and connect with others who have similar goals and challenges. By joining forces we hope to drive change to our personal health journeys as well as yours.

Obesity Matters is a safe-haven

Welcome

During these unprecedented times, Obesity Matters strives to be a beacon of hope, knowledge and resource for those living with overweight and obesity. We understand that living with excess weight can be challenging and we want to be that resource and support where you can get evidence-based information.

By becoming a member of Obesity Matters you can:

  • Get educated on the latest science-based information about obesity.
  • Find ongoing support through community forums, by sharing your story and connecting with others who have similar goals and challenges.
  • Gain access to obesity certified healthcare providers
  • Take action on important issues and help change the world for people living with obesity.

Join our community and let us support you to change:

  • How you talk to yourself: Drop the shame and blame.
  • How you talk to your family & community: Advocate for the end of weight bias and stigma associated with obesity. Dispel myths.
  • How you talk to your doctor: Empower yourself to ask for evidence-based treatment options.

Blogs

World Obesity Day 2024: ‘My hope is that we can drop the judgment and look for solutions’

Five advocates shared their thoughts on what they felt was the most important issue facing the obesity community. by Dave …

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Embracing the Season with Heart, Health, and Happiness

Rediscovering Togetherness: There’s something magical about this time of year that brings people together. I’ve been organizing small, cozy gatherings …

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Obesity Matters Policy Roundtable: Breaking barriers to obesity treatment and acceptance

Last summer, advocacy group Obesity Matters convened a policy roundtable that comprised a multidisciplinary panel of experts, including those from health institutions, …

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Stories

People in the Obesity Matters Community have powerful stories about their experiences with obesity. We know that sharing those stories with the world, and giving people a chance to express themselves, can bring about education, advocacy, support and awareness. Stories humanize the disease of obesity and remind us that at the heart of it, individual lives are affected.

I’ve Been Healed From The Inside Out

by Tanya Bender

A little bit about my journey, I’m sure it seems very familiar to anyone struggling with the extra weight they are carrying, both physically and mentally. 

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I played into the idea that your worth is tied to a number on a scale

by Rachel Atkins

Rachel Atkins is the director of strategy at Obesity Matters , where she works to leverage her own experiences — in business and body image – to transform communities, institutions and society to better the lives of Canadians living in larger bodies. She is an advocate for those have been on a similar journey, and her hope is that more can follow the path of positivity and self-love. This is her story.

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Opinion: I wasn’t born big

by Priti Chawla

Intense diets don’t work, weight management isn’t about ‘willpower,’ and your self-worth isn’t determined by the scale, writes Obesity Matters' Priti Chawla.

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The Therapist Who Didn’t Even Know He Had An Eating Disorder

by Brian Baumal

It took another five years, until August 2012, for  me to understand what was happening to me, and to address the underlying psychological issues that caused this drastic weight cycling! And throughout much of this time, I was a psychotherapist, who ought to have known better,  or at least I thought I should have known better.

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Share your story

Do you have your own stories you’d like to share? We want to hear from you! Explore below to submit your stories and share your experiences with the Obesity Matters Community!

Join the community

Become a member at no cost and together let us Inspire Hope through Action