Mainstream health science has let you down.Weight loss is not the key to health, diet and exercise are not effective weight-loss strategies and fatness is not a death sentence.Youve heard it before: theres a global health crisis, and, unless we make some changes, were in trouble. That much is truebut the epidemic is NOT obesity. The real crisis lies in the toxic stigma placed on certain bodies and the impact of living with inequalitynot the numbers on a scale. In a mad dash to shrink our bodies, many of us get so caught up in searching for the perfect diet, exercise program, or surgical technique that we lose sight of our original goal: improved health and well-being. Popular methods for weight loss dont get us there and lead many people to feel like failures when they cant match unattainable body standards. Its time for a cease-fire in the war against obesity.Dr. Linda Bacon and Dr. Lucy Aphramors Body Respect debunks common myths about weight, including the misconceptions that BMI can accurately measure health, that fatness necessarily leads to disease, and that dieting will improve health. They also help make sense of how poverty and oppressionsuch as racism, homophobia, and classismaffect life opportunity, self-worth, and even influence metabolism.Body insecurity is rampant, and it doesnt have to be. Its time to overcome our cultures shame and distress about weight, to get real about inequalities and health, and to show every body respect.