Supporting Black Female Patient Health
Treatment approaches and the care that Black adolescent girls receive in healthcare settings are undoubtedly impacted by racial discrimination, societal stereotypes about Black women's bodies, and stigma around obesity.
Obesity care for Black adolescents needs OUR HELP.
ReTHINKING Obesity Black Adolescent Patients
Is the way you think harming your Black Patients?
Black teen girls and women deserve exceptional care, and the support received from the treatment team, especially Healthcare Providers, is Integral.
The resource Rethinking Obesity outlines internal and external factors that contribute to obesity across the population, which include:​
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External factors that include:
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1. Modern-Day Technology Access
Open access to social media at one's fingertips has contributed to the obesity epidemic by increasing the amount of food we eat and sedentary behavior.
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2. Cultural Stressors
Biology, psychology, and socioeconomic status are all cultural factors that influence where, when, and how adolescents eat.
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3. Additional Financial Stress within the family
Research on the economic impacts of obesity is substantial across countries, regardless of economic or geographical location, and will increase over time if current trends remain.
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4. Complex Societal Factors
Higher rates of obesity are tied to social challenges, including poverty, low socioeconomic status, food insecurity, malnourishment, and consuming nutrient-poor foods often based on affordability.​​
If you're ready to RE-THINK how you deliver interventions and provide care for obesity to Black girls and women, explore this page and the rest of the site for more on how to transform your practice!
Click to go to the Rethinking Obesity Website here:​
Click below for a Printable PDF with this information.
Provider Tips for speaking to Black patients & Families:
The Rudd Center has created a resource that provides guidance for interventions to address adult obesity in primary care settings. They are as follows:
- Ask
- Assess
- Advise
- Assist
- Agree
- Arrange ​
Patient's can experience a lot of stigmawhich causes further hesitecy due to build upmistrust in HCPs.
Attempt to build a bridge and genuinely join with the patient. Ask questions about the patient's overall health and explore all causes of the patient’s presenting problems.
Avoid assuming that body weight is at the root of a patient’s symptoms, and consider their concerns independently of body weight.
Effective obesity care works best when adolescents, families, and healthcare providers collaborate rather than relying on instruction or following a strict plan.
Collaboration centers the adolescent’s voice, lived experiences, and goals, fostering trust, motivation, and shared decision-making.
For Black female adolescents, this approach helps ensure that care is respectful, culturally responsive, and empowering—supporting sustainable health behaviors rather than one-size-fits-all directives.
When speaking to patients, try to use patient-centered language and ask patients what words or terms they prefer to describe their body weight. Use their preferred terminology in your conversation.
Also consider cultural norms in the family and how you can incorporate them to support the treatment goals.
Health is more than a number on a scale. True health includes physical, emotional, and social well-being, as well as access to supportive environments, nutritious foods, joyful movement, and affirming care.
For Black female adolescents, focusing only on lowering BMI or the scale can overlook strengths, resilience, and important areas of need that influence overall health and long-term wellness.
The Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) framework highlights the importance of these contextual factors, such as: food insecurity, neighborhood safety, access to recreation, and intergenerational trauma in shaping health outcomes.
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What Black women who received obesity care in adolescence have said:
