The UK is currently facing an ‘obesity epidemic’ with obesity levels rising nationwide.
Officials have called for a ‘societal approach’ at multiple levels: personal, family, community and national. One approach that definitely does not work is weight-based discrimination.
To find out how common fat shaming is in 2025, we surveyed 2,000 people to discover if they have ever experienced negative comments or treatment because of their weight:
Are people still being fat-shamed in 2025?
Yes – 49.60%
No, never – 47.70%
Prefer not to say – 2.70%
Weight discrimination by age
Here are the most and least likely age groups to be targets of fat shaming:
Most – 16-24-year-olds – 66.92% said ‘yes’, 29.23% said ‘no, never’ and 3.85% said ‘prefer not to say’
Least – 55+ - 63.24% said ‘no, never’, 34.45% said ‘yes’ and 2.31% said ‘prefer not to say’
UK Cities with Most Body Shaming
Below are the cities where weight discrimination is most prevalent:
- Birmingham – 62.83%
- Sheffield – 54.79%
- London – 52.86%
- Edinburgh – 51.81%
- Southampton – 50.53%
Most Body Positive UK Cities
These are the cities that said they have never experienced fat shaming:
- Cardiff – 58.22%
- Liverpool – 55.26%
- Nottingham – 56.86%
- Norwich - 54.93%
- Brighton – 54.55%
Body Shaming by UK Region
Here are the areas of the UK where fat-shaming is happening:
- West Midlands – 61.93%
- Greater London – 60%
- Scotland – 51.20%
- Yorkshire and the Humber – 49.09%
- North East – 48.75%
We also asked respondents to identify who made the comments or treated them differently:
Who is most likely to discriminate on weight
- Strangers – 31.05%
- Family members – 30.75%
- Friends – 25.91%
- Partners – 20.26%
- Employer/colleague – 17.54%
- Healthcare professional – 17.04%
- Someone else – 2.12%
Occupations with Most Discriminatory Employers
These are the jobs where people’s employers are most likely to fat-shame them:
- Taxi/lorry drivers – 44.44%
- Recruiters – 40%
- Developers – 32.58%
- Shop assistants – 28.57%
- Nurses, lawyers and bank workers – 25%
Are you facing weight-based discrimination?
Our study revealed that despite progress in promoting body positivity, half of Brits are still experiencing fat shaming, with the younger generation the most affected.
Fat shaming can increase the risk of depression or anxiety, cause low self-esteem and suicidal thoughts, and can trigger unhealthy eating behaviours and disorders.
If you, or someone you know, is struggling with their weight, fat shaming will not help you on your journey. Drugs like Wegovy and Mounjaro should not be considered a ‘quick fix’ either and should always be obtained via medical approval and supervision.
For more information, speak to one of our team members for advice.
If you need it, additional mental health support is available via charities such as The Mental Health Foundation.