Assessing Weight-Inclusive Practices in YMCA Fitness Facilities: Development and Application of a Weight-Inclusive Physical Activity Checklist

Higher-weight individuals report less physical activity participation and more barriers compared to their lower-weight counterparts. This disparity has been attributed to the pervasiveness of weight stigma in contemporary physical activity contexts. Weight-inclusive approaches may offer a promising alternative paradigm to increase participation and enjoyment of physical activity, though their implementation and evaluation in real-world contexts remain unexplored. In a community-partnered approach, a weight-inclusive assessment checklist was developed and subsequently employed within community-based fitness facilities. A weight-inclusive assessment checklist was generated through literature-based recommendations, existing tools, and advisory consultation to conduct a built-environmental scan of YMCA fitness facilities in Southwestern Ontario ( n = 15). Promotional and resource material, equipment, fitness spaces, changing rooms, and live fitness classes were examined and evaluated for alignment with weight-inclusive principles. Promotional material rarely depicted images of higher-weight individuals (13.3%), and most (80%) locations included explicit weight-loss messaging. Most facilities had fitness equipment that met weight-inclusive criteria (93.3%), while equipment weight limits were available at only 53.3% of locations. All (100%) fitness instruction utilized weight-neutral language, though there was at least one instance of weight-normative language at 13.3% of locations. The present findings support the use of a newly developed weight-inclusive physical activity checklist in community-based fitness facilities. Results indicate a need for increased education, infrastructure, and inclusive policies surrounding weight-inclusive practices in physical activity contexts and considerable changes to the current culture and environment to support higher-weight individuals’ access to physical activity.