Skim any popular celebrity magazine for a three month period and you will see headlines proclaiming how a certain celebrity looks disturbingly thin or how another is clearly "putting on a few". Quite often these comments are in reference to the same, usually female, individual. A similar phenomenon occurs in academia, where updates proclaim that either bariatric surgery works or does not; weight loss and maintenance is achievable or is not; and we should either worry about our weight if we do not want to experience dire medical consequences or we should not care about our weight or else we will suffer from dire psychological consequences. So, in the end, what is a person to do?

The submissions that were received in response to a call for papers to examine this topic, four of which are published in this current issue, highlight just how relevant this area is. In the current issue we focus on concepts that are at opposite ends of the weight debate spectrum: issues dealing with anorexia and obesity, education on weight control and psychological concerns facing women seeking bariatric surgery. All address key constructs that impact issues pertaining to health, gender and access to care.