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Welcome to this month’s installment of the 5 Questions With… If you’re a new reader (welcome!) this is a series where we learn a bit about experts in the field. Previous interviewees include Dr. Lesley Williams, Dr. Mikey Mercedes, Aaron Flores, Dr. Gregory Dodell, Lisa Du Breuil, Dr. Asher Larmie, members of Medical Students for Size Inclusivity, Chrissy King, Jessica Jones, Leslie Jordan Garcia, Dr. Mara Gordon, Dr. Whitney Trotter, Dr. Anna Whelan, Angela Goens, Dr. Maayan Simckes, and Dr. Lesleigh Owen.
Today I have the honor of publish an interview with Dra. Mónica Peralta.
1. Tell us a bit about yourself and your work
I am a physician, diabetes educator, and specialist in eating disorders based in Managua, Nicaragua. I hold postgraduate degrees in Clinical Nutrition and Diabetology, and my work focuses on weight-inclusive, stigma-free care. I work with people living in larger bodies, those navigating disordered eating, and professionals who are learning to shift their practice toward compassion and equity. Beyond my clinical work, I am the Communications Chair of the Association for Weight and Size Inclusive Medicine (AWSIM), where we advocate for systemic change in how healthcare is taught, delivered, and experienced.
2. How did you learn about the concept of weight-inclusive, body-affirming care?
After a few years in clinical practice, nothing made sense anymore. I saw patients returning again and again, ashamed that they could not follow prescribed diets or maintain weight loss. From a personal perspective, I knew I was disciplined and committed, yet I found myself trapped in a constant cycle of losing and regaining weight. I began reading everything I could find, trying to understand what we were missing. My first formal training was in Intuitive Eating, and that was the beginning of an entirely new way of seeing health and humanity.
3. How have you applied those concepts to your work?
I listen closely to people and meet them with respect and empathy. Together, we look at their current behaviors, values, and needs, and from that same listening, we identify small, sustainable changes that truly fit their lives. My goal is to help each person build a sense of well-being that feels integrated, not forced. In my ongoing education, I question everything: where the research comes from, who funded it, and how it applies to real people. I believe critical thinking is a form of care.
4. What is one thing you wish people who are still working from a weight-focused paradigm could learn?
That the more we stay attached to a weight-centered model, the more people feel rejected by professionals who promised to do no harm. Healthcare spaces continue to be unsafe and violent for many, and as a result, more people avoid medical care altogether. This is not only about weight; it is about trust, dignity, and access to health.
5. How and where can we find you and your work?
You can find my work on Instagram at @dra.monicaperalta and through AWSIM at www.awsim.org, where I contribute to our newsletter and social media to help educate and build community around weight-inclusive care. I also share reflections and resources through my Substack at substack.com/@dramonicaperalta, as well as through my teaching for both patients and healthcare professionals.
Bonus – Anything else you’d like to say?
Healing, both personal and collective, takes time. Moving away from weight-centered care is not only about changing language or practices; it is about unlearning deeply rooted beliefs about bodies, health, and worth. It requires humility, curiosity, and compassion for ourselves and the people we serve. Weight-inclusive care is not an alternative approach, it is what ethical and evidence-informed medicine should look like. We cannot call ourselves healers while continuing to cause harm through weight bias and discrimination. Every clinician has the responsibility to create safer spaces where all bodies can receive care without fear.
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More research
The Research Post
More resources
The Resource Post
*Note on language: I use “fat” as a neutral descriptor as used by the fat activist community, I use “ob*se” and “overw*ight” to acknowledge that these are terms that were created to medicalize and pathologize fat bodies, with roots in racism and specifically anti-Blackness. Please read Sabrina Strings’ Fearing the Black Body – the Racial Origins of Fat Phobia and Da’Shaun Harrison’s Belly of the Beast: The Politics of Anti-Fatness as Anti-Blackness for more on this.
“I believe critical thinking is a form of care.”
YES! I love this so much.
Once you apply critical thinking to the problem of improving the health of one's larger body, you can no longer go back to the old weight-centered way of thinking. I think that many people are afraid to give up their old ways because they fear that people will think that they are just trying to make excuses for remaining fat.