Never comment on a person’s weight.
Commenting on a coworker or friend’s recent weight loss might seem harmless, but it can carry implications of body-shaming.
“First of all, even if someone has gained or lost noticeable weight, you have no idea why,” Engeln told INSIDER. “You don’t know if they’ve been sick, you don’t know if they have an eating disorder, you don’t know if they have a lot of stress in their life.”
She said that complimenting someone on their weight loss implies that you thought they didn’t look good before they lost weight, which is harmful.
In general, Engeln said that talking about a person’s weight is not productive.
“We actually have a lot of other things to talk about. I think it’s just habit that when we talk about women we talk about how they look,” she said. “Most women are already very aware of how they look, so we don’t need help thinking about it more.”
