Rebecca M. Puhl, Ph.D.
Dr. Rebecca Puhl is Director of Research and Anti-Stigma Initiatives at the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University where she is also a Research Scientist. Dr. Puhl is responsible for identifying and coordinating research and policy efforts aimed at reducing weight bias.
Dr. Puhl received her B.A. in psychology from Queen’s University in Ontario, and her M.S. and Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Yale University. Her clinical training at the Yale Center for Eating & Weight Disorders emphasized treating patients with anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder, and obesity. She completed her clinical internship in Clinical Health Psychology at the VA Connecticut Healthcare System before gaining additional postdoctoral experience at Johns Hopkins.
Dr. Puhl has been studying weight bias since 1999. In addition to seeking ways to reduce weight bias, Dr. Puhl’s research examines societal and behavioral contributors to obesity. Her recent publications address the origins of weight stigma, stigma reduction interventions, coping with weight stigma, the impact of weight stigma on emotional and physical health, and societal factors related to childhood obesity. She has presented on these topics to academic, professional, and community groups. Dr. Puhl serves as co-chair of the Weight Bias Task Force of NAASO, and is an editor of the book Weight
Bias: Nature, Extent, and Remedies (Guilford Press, 2005).
To view Dr. Puhl’s current initiatives on weight bias at the Rudd Center, click
here.
Selected Research Articles
Puhl, R.M., Andreyeva, T., & Brownell, K.D (2008). Perceptions of weight discrimination: prevalence and comparison to race and gender discrimination in America.
International Journal of Obesity, 1-9.
Andreyeva, T., Puhl, R.M., & Brownell, K.D (2008). Changes in Perceived Weight Discrimination Among Americans, 1995-1996 through 2004-2006. Obesity.
Puhl, R., Moss-Racusin, C., Schwartz, M.B., & Brownell, K.D. (2007). Weight Stigmatization
and Bias Reduction: Perspectives of Overweight and Obese Adults. Health Education & Research.
Puhl, R., Moss-Racusin, C., Schwartz, M.B., & Brownell, K.D. (in press). Weight Stigmatization and Bias Reduction: Perspectives of Overweight and Obese Adults. Health Education & Research.
Puhl, R., & Latner, J. (2007). Obesity, Stigma, and the Health of the Nation’s Children. Psychological Bulletin, 133 (4), 557-580.
Puhl, R., Moss-Racusin, C., Schwartz, M.B. (2007). Internalization of Weight Bias: Implications for Binge Eating and Emotional Wellbeing. Obesity, 15 (1), 19-23.
Puhl, R., & Brownell, K.D. (2006). Confronting and coping with weight stigma: An investigation of overweight and obese individuals. Obesity, 14, 1802-1815.
Puhl, R.M., Schwartz, M.B., Brownell, K.D. (2005). Impact of perceived consensus on stereotypes about obese people: A new approach for reducing bias. Health Psychology, 24(5), 517-525.
Puhl, R. & Brownell, K.D. (2003). Psychosocial origins of obesity stigma: Toward changing a powerful and pervasive bias. Obesity Reviews, 4, 213-227.
Puhl, R., & Schwartz, M.B. (2003). If you are good you can have a cookie: How memories of childhood food rules link to adult eating behaviors. Eating Behaviors, 4, 283-293.
Puhl, R., & Brownell, K.D. (2003). Ways of coping with obesity stigma: Review and conceptual analysis. Eating Behaviors, 4, 53-78.
Schwartz, M., & Puhl, R. (2003). Childhood obesity: A societal problem to solve. Obesity Reviews, 4, 57-71.
Puhl, R., & Brownell, K.D. (2001). Bias, discrimination, and obesity. Obesity Research, 9, 788-805.
Selected Chapters and Books
Puhl, R.M.(in press). Weight Bias in Health Care Settings: Increasing Sensitivity in Clinical Practice. In C.A. Nonas and G.D. Foster (Eds.), Managing Obesity: A Clinical Guide.
Puhl, R.M., Heuer, C. A., Brownell, K.D. (in press). Stigma and social consequences of obesity. In P. Kopelman, I. Caterson, & W. Dietz (Eds)., Clinical Obesity in Adults & Children, 3rd Edition, Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Latner, J.D., Puhl, R.M., & Stunkard, A.J. (in press). Cultural Attitudes and Biases Towards Obesity. In S. R. Akabas, L. J. Aronne, C. Nonas, F. X. Pi-Sunyer, & T. A. Wadden (eds.) Understanding Obesity: Biological, Psychological and Cultural Influences. Wadsworth Publishers.
Puhl, R.M., & Brownell, K.D. (in press). Bias, Discrimination, and Obesity. In G.A. Bray & C. Bouchard (eds.). Handbook of Obesity, Clinical Applications (3rd Edition). NY: Marcel Dekker.
Puhl, R., & Brownell, K.D. (2007). Strategies for coping with the stigma of obesity. In J. Latner & T. Wilson (Eds). Self-Help for Binge Eating and Obesity. New York: Guilford Press.
Brownell, K.D., Puhl, R., Schwartz, M.B., Rudd, L. (Eds.) (2005). Weight Bias: Nature,Consequences, and Remedies. New York: Guilford Publications.
Puhl, R.M. (2005). Coping with Weight Stigma. In Weight Bias: Nature, Consequences, and Remedies. Brownell K.D., Puhl R.M., Schwartz M.B., Rudd L.(Eds). New York: Guilford Press.
Schwartz, M.B. & Puhl, R.M. (2005). Future directions for work on bias, stigma, discrimination, and obesity. In Weight Bias: Nature, Consequences, and Remedies. In Brownell K.D., Puhl R.M., Schwartz M.B., Rudd L.(Eds). New York: Guilford Press.
Puhl, R., Henderson, K.E., & Brownell, K.D. (2005). Social consequences of obesity. In P. Kopelman, I. Caterson, & W. Dietz (Eds.) Clinical Obesity and Related Metabolic Disease in Adults and Children. (pp. 29-45). Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Puhl, R., & Brownell, K.D. (2005). Bulimia nervosa. In C.B. Fisher & R.M. Lerner, Applied developmental science: An encyclopedia of research, policies, and programs, Volume I. (pp. 192-194). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Puhl, R. & Brownell, K.D. (2004). Bias, prejudice, discrimination and obesity. In G.A. Bray and C. Bouchard (Eds.), Handbook of Obesity: Clinical Applications, Second Edition. (pp. 69-74). NY: Marcel Dekker.
Puhl, R. & Brownell, K.D. (2004). Eating Disorders. In N. Anderson (Ed.) Encyclopedia of Health and Behavior. (pp. 279-288). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Puhl, R. & Brownell, K.D. (2001). Stigma, discrimination, and obesity. In C.G. Fairburn and K.D. Brownell (Eds.), Eating Disorders and Obesity, Second Edition: A Comprehensive Handbook. (pp. 108-113). NY: Guilford Publications, Inc.