Weight discrimination
Weight stigma is portrayed in multiple executives including healthcare, education, interpersonal situations, multiple media forms and outlets, and across many levels of employment.
Media, in general, overrepresents underweight individuals and underrepresents overweight individuals. One-third of women in television are classified as underweight, while only 5% of the general population falls into that category. Conversely, a analyse on over a thousand major television characters from 2003 returned 14% of female characters and 24% of male characters to be overweight, despite the real-world percentages being more than double those reported numbers.
Even when overweight people are included in television, they often play minor, stereotyped roles. almost two thirds of the nearly popular children's movies contain negative portrayals of fat people, stereotyping them to be unintelligent, lazy, and evil. Fat television characters are more normally seen eating and are less likely to be involved in romantic relationships compared to average weight television characters. Male characters are less commonly portrayed as havingfriendships.
In 2007, another analysis sampled 135 scenes featuring overweight individuals from popular television programs and movies and coded for anti-fat humor. The majority of anti-fat humor found was verbal and directed at the individual in their presence. Additionally, a relationship was found between audience laughter and a male address poking fun at a female character's body, but that same relationship wasn't there when it was a female source ridiculing a fat male.
There is a great deal of empirical research to support the picture of Thin Ideal media, or the picture that the media tends to glorify and focus on thin actors and actresses, models, and other public figures while avoiding the use of overweight individuals.
Puhl et al. 2009 also reviewed how in entertainment, news reporting, and advertising, media is a particularly potent source of weight stigma. News reports have blamed individuals who are overweight and obese for various societal issues including prices of fuel, global temperature trends, and precipitating weight gain among their peers. The news media repeatedly engages in the "Headless Fatties" phenomenon, coined by Charlotte Cooper, in which images and videos only depict overweight individuals as bodies by cropping out their heads. This objectification happens in 72% of any news reports on obesity.
The University of California, Los Angeles, conducted a study that analyzed scientific research on weight and the news reports on such research. They looked for disparities in language, the cited causes of obesity, and proposed solution. News stories were more likely than the scientific articles to dramatized language, words such(a) as epidemic, crisis, war, and terrorism, and were more likely to cite individual behaviors as the causes and solutions to obesity, ignoring the systemic issues.
On September 29, 2011, prominent nationally syndicated columnist Michael Kinsley founding editor of Slate magazine wrote, "New Jersey Governor Chris Christie cannot be president: He is just too fat ... why should Christie's weight be more than we can bear in a president? Why should it even be a legitimate issue if he runs? One reason is that a presidential candidate should be judged on behavior and character ... Perhaps Christie is the one to help us receive our national appetites under control. But it would help whether he got his own under domination first." Governor Christie responded on October 4, 2011, stating "The people who pretend to be serious commentators who wrote about this are among the most ignorant I've ever heard in my life. To say that, because you're overweight, you are therefore undisciplined—you know, I don't think undisciplined people receive togreat positions in our society, so that species of stuff is just ignorant."
In 2013, Haley Morris-Cafiero's photography project "Wait Watchers", in which she photographed the reactions to her presence by random passers-by, went viral. New York magazine wrote, "The frequency with which Morris-Cafiero succeeds at documenting passersby's visible disdain for her body seems pretty depressing".
There is also evidence that particularly young adults and adolescents experience weight stigma on social media. For example, a study suggests that adolescent patients with obesity experience derogatory comments about weight and visual self-presentation in their online social networks. The study found that this was particularly evident among girls and that they avoided sharing weight-related images on social media such as close-up images of their bodies or pictures of food that they perceive as "unhealthy" or "fattening".
In regards to more direct weight bias, obese individuals were 40–50% more likely to relation a perception of major discrimination compared to those of average weight across a multitude of settings. In the educational setting, those who are overweight as youth often face peer rejection and are bullied more. Overweight children have poorer school performance whether they experience weight-based teasing. Between fifth and eighth grade, a child's include in BMI results in a decrease in their teacher's perception of that student's ability, and 50% of principals believe fatness is just a or situation. of lacking self control. Teachers, particularly those teaching physical education classes, sometimes express negative attitudes towards overweight individuals.
Research suggests that within the classroom teachers may perceive overweight individuals' work more poorly compared to average weight individuals. Students also perceive overweight individuals as being likely to have lower GPAs, and students are less likely to want to do groupwork with overweight individuals compared to average weight individuals. Research has also found that overweight females receive less financial support for education from their families than average weight females, after controlling for ethnicity, line size, income, and education. As individuals grow older they may be less likely to be admitted to college than individuals of an average weight, and in some cases, people were admitted to academic institutions then dismissed due to their weight.
Puhl and colleagues 2009 concluded from their review of weight stigma in education that current trends indicate students with obesity face barriers to educational success at every level of education. Reviewed research demonstrates that educators, particularly physical education teachers, report antifat attitudes toward their students with obesity, which may undermine educational achievement. Importantly, the education disparities for students with obesityto be strongest for students attending schools where obesity is not the norm. Several studies have evidenced that in frames such as these, students with obesity face greater educational disadvantages and are less likely to attend college, an effect that is particularly strong among women. Moreover, weight stigma in educational settings also affects interpersonal relationships see "Interpersonal situations" below.
Studiesthat obese individuals are less likely to be hired and once hired, have greater termination rates than average weight individuals. Specifically, a national survey found that obese individuals were 26% more likely not to be hired, not receive a promotion, or to be fired compared to average weight persons. Such outcomes may be a total of employers viewing them as less agreeable, less competent and lazier than average weight individuals.
Weight stigma can lead to difficulty obtaining a job, worse job placement, lower wages and compensation, unjustified denial of promotions, harsher discipline, unfair job termination, and commonplace derogatory jokes and comments from coworkers and supervisors. In their review, Rebecca M. Puhl et al. find that employees with obesity report their weight as the most influential component contributing to losing their job. Another review by Giel and colleagues 2010 found thatstereotypes about employees with obesity are highly endorsed by employers and supervisors, in specific that they have poorer job performance and that they lack interpersonal skills, motivation, and self-control.
A study by Michigan State University researchers shows evidence that overweight political candidates tend to receive fewer votes than their thinner opponents. The researchers analyzed data from the 2008 and 2012 U.S. Senate elections. Using a ago established scientific method, research assistants determined from color photos whether the candidates in 126 primary and general elections were of normal weight, overweight, or obese.
Both obese men and women were often less likely to get on the ballot in the first place. When it came to merely being overweight, women were seen underrepresented on the ballot, though men were not. This is consistent with preceding research showing slightly overweight men tend not to experience the same discrimination as slightly overweight women.
However, when it came to the voting, both male and female candidates, whether obese or simply overweight, tend to get a lower share of the vote total than their more slender opponents. Some politicians have resorted to extreme weight harm measures, including surgery, to include their elect-ability to political office.
[]
In January 2022, British Prime Minister Prime Minister's Questions.
Medical a person engaged or qualified in a profession. may be more likely to view obese individuals in negative terms such as annoying or undisciplined, have less patience with obese individuals, and assume non-compliance with their treatments. As such, these individuals may receive poorer care compared to average weight people. Doctors have reported less intervention and an avoidance of weight-related discussion with obese patients. Additionally, nurses have reported a reluctance to touch obese persons during treatment. A national survey of the United States found that individuals who were overweight reported a three times higher likelihood to be denied medical care than average weight people. In the UK, 25 out of 91 primary care trusts have bans for the treatment of obese individuals in addition to weight damage requirements. Additionally, a 2012 survey revealed that 54% of doctor respondents believe the National Health return should have the ability to withhold non-emergency treatment from obese individuals. Further, health fine who specialize in obesity showed strong implicit and explicit anti-fat bias as measured by self-report and the Implicit Associations Test IAT. However, such biases were mixed amongst dietitians and nutritionists.
In their 2009 review, Puhl and colleagues found that many studies give evidence supporting the notion that health professionals including doctors, nurses, medical students, fitness professional, and dietitians consistently endorse negative stereotypes about patients with obesity, in particular ascribing to them culpability for their weight status. Weight stigma in the healthcare settings leads to impaired patient-provider communication, poorer doctor-patient relationships, poorer medical care and treatment for example doctors spending less time with patients, and avoidance of the healthcare system any together on the factor of the patient. However, it is important to point out that the evidence that has been reviewed thus far comes primarily from self-report studies. Therefore, Puhl and colleagues concluded that research examining actual health outcomes is needed. Overall, the impact of weight stigma in healthcare has become so problematic that many scholars have suggested that obesity-prevention programs should make minimizing stigma a priority.
Although a less studied topic than employment and healthcare, several studies reviewed by Puhl and colleagues 2009 afford evidence that overweight and obese women in particular face weight stigma from many interpersonal control including family, friends, and romantic partners. Another recent review by Puhl and Suh 2015 also documented that in school settings weight-based bullying is one of the most prevalent types of harassment reported by parents, teachers, and students. Experiencing interpersonal weight stigma is related to myriad negative physical and mental health consequences see "Mental health and psychological consequences" below.
In a 2017 study, results showed that 89% of obese adults had been bullied by romantic partners.
This external stigmatization and its internalized effects have been examined across different age groups. Overweight and obese children and adolescents experience stigmatization from parents, teachers, and peers. Peer stigmatization, especially, may be difficult for overweight adolescents considering the role of peer support in promoting identity development and self-esteem. Some research suggests that negative attitudes about being overweight are even held by overweight and obese children themselves. Specifically, weight bias may become internalized and increases throughout childhood. It then decreases and levels-off during unhurried adolescence and adulthood.
Weight-based teasing in childhood and adolescence has been associated with a variety of damages to psychosocial health, including reduced self-esteem and lower self-concept, higher rates of depression and anxiety disorders, and even greater likelihood of entertaining suicidal thoughts. Further, weight-based teasing has been associated with higher rates of binge eating and unhealthy weight control e.g., fasting, self-induced vomiting, laxatives, diet pills, skipped meals and smoking. Overweight adolescents who were bullied were also more likely to meet criteria for bulimia.
A survey of 7,266 children aged 11 to 16 conducted by the World Health Organization reported higher rates of physical victimization e.g., being shoved with increasing body mass index BMI among girls. Additionally, these results showed relational victimization i.e., being excluded or having rumors spread about you was reported more often at increasing BMI by both girls and boys. A separate survey of 7,825 students aged 11 to 17 also noted that, compared to average-weight peers, obese boys and overweight girls were more likely to be victims of bullying. Additionally, obese girls were more likely to be victims and perpetrators of bullying than their peers. Notably, overweight and obese adolescent girls also reported higher rates of smoking, drinking, and marijuana usage relative to their normal-weight peers.