Queen Latifah Reflects on Cousin's Death as She Continues to Fight Stigma Surrounding Obesity (Exclusive)

When she's not astonishing her lifelong fans astatine euphony festivals specified arsenic Coachella aliases fighting bad guys connected TV, Queen Latifah is lending her sound to causes she believes in.

The legendary rapper, 55, has collaborated pinch nan pharmaceutical institution Novo Nordisk since 2021 to alteration nan stigma surrounding obesity and amended group astir its relationship to cardiovascular diseases.

The travel is simply a personal 1 for Latifah, who has opened up astir losing weight successful nan past. Now she wants to salary it guardant because nan rumor is adjacent to her heart.

"Having mislaid a relative who was surviving pinch morbid obesity and watching what she had to spell done and really she fought for her life, why would I not want to beryllium a portion of it?" she tells PEOPLE exclusively.

"I watched her conflict for her life for years, dealing pinch cardiovascular issues and humor clots and different kinds of things that were happening to her body, and fighting backmost and past falling back, and conscionable nan challenges because there's a batch of intelligence challenges she was facing arsenic well..." Latifah explains.

"She astir apt had gone done it nan astir severely, but I was looking astatine various large members of my family, including myself, and we each request this information. We each request this. It's comparative to each 1 of us. And truthful if there's anyone that could beryllium helped done this, why not?"

One of nan biggest things Latifah advocates for is nan speech surrounding group who are obese aliases struggle pinch weight nonaccomplishment issues. Her latest spot pinch Novo Nordisk, posted to her Instagram successful March, highlights each nan "small" comments often lobbed successful jest, but often person a lasting impact. It's successful those seemingly infinitesimal moments, Latifah believes, that nan antagonistic connotations of obesity are perpetuated.

"Our ngo is to make judge that group understand that obesity is simply a disease, not immoderate benignant of characteristic flaw," she explains to PEOPLE. "It's an pandemic successful nan U.S., and it affects 2 retired of 5 Americans. Two retired of 5 Americans. That's a batch of group and it disproportionately affects group of color."

She continues, "It's a chronic disease, but it's a manageable disease, and truthful what we would for illustration for group to do is spell to nan TruthAboutWeight.com, get much accusation astir it, and really conscionable talk to their physicians."

TruthAboutWeight shows nan relationship betwixt obesity and cardiovascular illness and besides addresses nan bias and stigma against those surviving pinch obesity. The tract gives group accusation pertaining to obesity and bosom illness — from really to measurement your BMI to really hormonal changes tin beryllium a facet to taste aspects that specify our relationships pinch nutrient and besides our bodies.

TruthAboutWeight besides features confessionals from existent group and provides entree to a personalized TruthWeight report, which gives talking points and enables you to place areas of interest erstwhile you sojourn nan doctor.

"Everybody who's obese is not moreover an overweight personification visually. There are immoderate numbers that you person to look astatine arsenic well. So that's why it's truthful important to get successful your doctor's agency and spot wherever you really stand, because nan visuals don't ever statement up," Latifah states.

"TruthAboutWeight tin springiness you a clearer picture, aliases moreover springiness you immoderate questions that you mightiness not person thought of to inquire your doctor. It's a speech that has to beryllium had, because we besides person this emotion of assemblage arsenic well, but it's not conscionable assemblage image, it's astir health. It's really ne'er really astir assemblage image, it's ever astir health."

When it comes to entertainers who person managed to smoothly modulation from euphony to acting, Queen Latifah is 1 of nan best. However, that alteration besides meant adjusting to really group expected her to look. And while she says she did consciousness nan quality successful really group looked astatine her, what was much important was nan truth that she besides came to recognize really nan camera altered her image.

"I learned what a camera tin make you look like. I learned that a camera is not really a existent eye. So what an existent oculus sees is not really what a camera sees. A camera puts 10, 15 pounds much weight connected you than you really are successful existent life ... So you person to moreover mentally push past that," she tells PEOPLE.

"I'm gladsome I came done Hip-Hop euphony into acting and not done play schoolhouse necessarily, because I don't cognize if my mind would person been nan aforesaid aliases my powerfulness would person been nan same. I had already rocked stages being maine arsenic me, and dealt pinch a different benignant of image challenges, if you will, earlier I became a master actor. So I deliberation I was much prepared to woody pinch what Hollywood could propulsion my way."

And while Latifah has ever remained existent to herself arsenic she ventured into Hollywood, it doesn't mean location haven't been group who person attempted to get her to fresh nan position quo.

"The point is you sewage to cognize who you are, and fortunately, I deliberation I learned truthful overmuch successful my ain family earlier I moreover sewage into nan nationalist oculus that I wasn't arsenic easy susceptible to what nan mind games that group tin play connected you successful this business ..." she tells PEOPLE.

"There are a batch of stylists who are carrying baggage [and want to say] if you are not a size 6 aliases less, aliases 8 aliases less, past you are difficult to dress. No, you conscionable don't cognize really to style me," she declares.

"If you're a stylist, past you request to spell find this. It's there, you request to root it. If not, you request to make it, and if you can't really do that, past you shouldn't person this occupation because nary of america are a size six. So nan occupation is to dress these bodies... This is nan measurement we were erstwhile you sewage nan job. It's really not america who needs to suffer weight, it's you who request to fig retired really to dress us."