Two studies investigated 4-to 6-year-old children's weight bias. In Study 1, 126 children read illustrated books where a main character ('Alfie') was healthy weight, in a wheelchair, or overweight. In Study 2, 150 children read the same stories where the character was female ('Alfina'), or stories where her friends were fat. Children rated 'Alfie'/'Alfina' and a comparison character on nine attributes/behaviours, and chose one that best represented each attribute. Fat and wheelchair 'Alfie'/'Alfina' were rated less likely to win a race, and fat 'Alfie'/'Alfina' as having fewer friends. When forced to choose between characters, fat 'Alfie'/'Alfina' was rejected on most constructs. Children's gender, self-perceived shape, and character's friends' size had no effect on judgements. These findings show children's preferences away from fatness rather than outright rejection, and mostly clearly in friendship choices. Understanding young children's weight bias is important given their increasing involvement in obesity surveillance, prevention, and management.Keywords: Weight bias; Anti-fat attitudes; Stereotyping; Children; Disability; Social rejection 3 "No fat friend of mine": Young children's responses to overweight and disability Bias against people with obesity is evident through well-documented inequities in key areas of people's lives such as employment, education, and healthcare (Puhl & Heuer, 2009). The unacceptability of fatness is reflected in media such as advertising and TV programming and in a portrayal of weight loss that is contingent on personal effort. Given that people with obesity are consequently blamed for their state of body it is unsurprising that experienced (and perceived) weight bias increases vulnerability to psychological and emotional distress.Social marginalization is pivotal to weight bias and stems from the pervasive negative stereotypes regarding the character and behaviour of people with obesity (Puhl & Heuer, 2009). Research into children's obesity stereotyping has a long history and originated in studies of their perception of disability. Asking 10-to11-year-old children, "Which boy (girl) do you like best" from six drawings of children with different physical disabilities, no disability, or obesity, showed the obese child was generally the last to be selected (Richardson, Goodman, Hastorf, & Dornbusch, 1961). In a replication some 40 years later, pre-teen children were even less likely to choose the obese child drawing as being liked over any of the others (Latner & Stunkard, 2003). Increases in obesity prevalence over this period and children's presumed increased familiarity with obesity appear to have done little to ameliorate these negative views.Reviewing the literature on weight stigma in children and adolescents, Puhl and Latner (2007) distinguish educators, parents, and peers as the primary sources of weight bias. The rejection of an obese target (usually a drawing or cartoon) as a friend, someone to play with, or to date, is common to many studies of teens and younge...