Inclusion for every size: Evolving priorities in a course on feeding behavior

Abstract

What do you do when you suddenly realize that in the course of “just teaching the science,”of feeding behavior, you’ve inadvertently perpetuated harmful ideology? How do you move past damaging cultural messages that you’ve picked up in academic spaces as well as the world at large? These are the dilemmas I faced when a student question opened my eyes to an ugly paradox that pervaded my course.  Here, I describe the evolution of one unit within a course on "Food and the Brain" from focusing on the Obesity Epidemic to taking a critical approach of "Rethinking Obesity" and exploring anti-fat bias.