*Queen Latifah wants obese people to receive medical care that is inclusive and judgment-free.
The actress and hip-hop icon partnered with “It’s Bigger Than Me” to change the stigma surrounding obesity. Sponsored by Novo Nordisk, the Inclusive Obesity Care Initiative calls on healthcare professionals to show their support by posting a first-of-its-kind symbol on their door offices to indicate compassionate treatment for obese people.
“Four out of 10 Americans are obese, and 4 out of 5 Black women,” Latifah told People. “So this hits home for me.”
“66% of people with obesity have felt weight stigma from doctors,” “The Equalizer” star added. “We want to make sure people receive care that’s compassionate, safe and respectful.”
Obesity is “abnormal or excessive fat accumulation that presents a risk to health,” according to the World Health Organization.
Latifah told Insider that she was in the third grade when she was body-shamed for the first time.
“I became conscious of my body pretty early on because I was also very athletic,” Latifah explained to the outlet. “So the fact that I was a girl who wanted to play sports put me on the radar immediately.”
She also recalled being told to lose weight while filming the Fox sitcom “Living Single,” which aired from 1993 to 1998.
“It shook me for a second,” Latifah said. “I mean, they wanted all of us to lose weight. It hurt my feelings initially, then it made me very angry just as quickly as it stung. Because I felt like, first of all, how dare you? Secondly, we look like real people. And I don’t know what idea you’re trying to create.”
Speaking to People, Latifah revealed that she was mocked as a child for being a “big kid for [her] age.”
“Who knows how much of the world hasn’t been changed because someone said the wrong thing to a person, like ‘Hey, you’re too fat to do that,’ which made them not want to do that… And that’s our loss. That’s the world’s loss,” she said.
READ MORE: Queen Latifah Makes Library of Congress History
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