Obesity Stigma

Whether it be in media or only in people’s perceptions, Obese individuals are portrayed as gluttonous, dangerously overeating or otherwise always thinking of food.Commonly because of all the food they eat, obese people also must be well off, living stable enough incomes to support their “food-addiction” and probably sit around all day. But if they don’t understand the basics of how food works, they must be stupid too, right? Basically the American view on obesity is anyone that appears or is obese must be dumb, sloth like with enough money to support the expense of gallons of ice cream a week.

Obesity is defined as a medical condition in which excess body fat has accumulated to the extent that it may have an adverse effect on health, leading to reduce life expectancy and/or increased health problems. “The problem of obesity is increasing in the United States. Understanding the impact of social inequalities on health has become a public health priority in the new millennium. Social, political, and economic factors now are acknowledged to be "fundamental" causes of disease that affect behavior, beliefs, and biology.” (Goodman, 2003)  In the United States today, obesity has become an enormous problem. In the last 3 decades, the number of people overweight has increased dramatically. Obesity has not always been seen as a medical

Medical conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes and, heart disease are common physical ailments. In addition, obesity can cause a number of psychological issues such as low self-esteem, body dimorphic disorder, and social stigmatization (Puhl and Brownell, 2006). Stigmatization and stereotypes based on weight are prevalent across many environments. Some of the stereotypes include thinking that the obese individual is lazy or lacks self-control. Puhl and Brownell (2006) investigated the stigma of being overweight and the coping mechanisms. Surprisingly, one of the outcomes of their research indicates that family members are often a source of stigma. Those who are overweight face discrimination and stigma not only when out in the community, but also have to deal with the stigma at home.

Based on background information, a central hypothesis was developed that obesity is an ongoing, gendered and embodied cultural process that has harmful consequences for the obese individual (e.g. Harjunen, 2002&2003). The various social implications of obesity will be explored via interviews (with obese people or former obese people) conducted and the surveys taken of people in the Boston area.

There are those who try to deny the fact that action is necessary , they may try to rationalize an obese lifestyle by stating it does not harm others. They may also state that personal freedoms are violated in attempts by the government to control weight. Others might also argue that targeting obesity creates

The stigma related to obesity plays a major role every day for some. At work, school and in healthcare settings the stigma exists and continues to be a publically tolerable form of prejudice in American society. By increasing education and awareness about the damaging and lasting effects of negative stigma.

Society today has distorted what a healthy physique actually looks like. It tells you, if you don’t have muscles bulging from under your skin then you are out of shape. And that if you are overweight you are just ugly. Another false concept is that if you are overweight you’re lazy or not self disciplined (Bordo 2). There are so many factors that have to be accounted for when evaluating someone’s weight. To assume that someone is lazy or weak because they are overweight, is ignorant. Many people are deceived into thinking that obesity is terrible like a sin. In her article Susan Bordo gives an example of a study taken where children chose obesity to be more uncomfortable or embarrassing than dismembered hands or facial deformities when shown

“America’s War on the Overweight” by Kate Dailey and Abby Ellin talks about the issues facing obese and overweight individuals. There have been countless examples of hate towards obese/overweight individuals in America which the article describes in detail. For example, when Regina M. Benjamin was nominated for a MacArthur and got criticism for her weight publicly. Some of the individuals who were criticized are not even overweight, but just normal sized with a bit of belly fat. So why is there animosity towards obese individuals? The article states it is due to self-loathing of a nation which prides itself in Puritanical beliefs. As well as psychological phenomenon known as the fundamental attribution error which makes you underestimate others

Kids nowadays know the way to a fast food restaurant. Low income earners prefer to go to fast food restaurants to eat than to prepare foods themselves. This might cost a lot but people just eat it because it is fast.

Explanation: Lynn Kelly speaks to a consumer Joyce, who talks about shopping at a grocery store and not being able to afford the healthy foods. "Joyce pointed, 'Fruit is high. Everything is high vegetable is high. So, it's really expensive when you wan to eat good '." Here, the consumer knows what the healthy foods are such as fruits and vegetables however, since she can not afford it so she does not purchase it. Many American households live on a tight budget, in which the expense of consuming a meal is kept at a minimum thus,this leads to eating at a cheap fast food restaurant. Mcdonald's "Dollar Menu" is attractive to low income communities where they a can achieve a whole meal with a few dollars.

Besides, studies have shown that “The obesity epidemic ranks among the leading causes”. (WHO, 1998) are “poor diet and physical inactivity were the second leading cause of death in the USA in 2000 and may soon overtake tobacco as the leading cause of avoidable death” (Mokdad et al.,2004). “Obesity is a complex medical condition, which has social and psychological dimensions and some major economic aspects.” (WHO, 2000). “It affects people of all ages and socio-economic groups, and of both genders, and is not restricted to developed countries” (WHO, 2000). From

This essay discusses how social constructions have an effect on obesity and what combination of causes and contributing factors it includes can lead to obesity. `Obesity is the term used to describe someone who is overweight and unhealthy. Obesity shortens life by an average of 10 years. It is very common in the UK and results from a study back in 2014 showed that a whopping 65.3% of men and 58.1% of women are obese here. (UniversityOfBirmingham,2016) Being over weight is generally associated with being lazy and unpleasant. There are a lot of media groups that have influenced our society’s perception on obesity and many factors that lead to the disease. Obesity can be life threatening and can be the start of lethal conditions such as diabetes,

The website article by Lesley Kinzel strongly disagrees with the idea of shaming obesity. Kinzel says that shaming happens to everyone. She believes in taking action by saying shame is a motivator at first and then saying “It doesn’t work, though – shame is not a catalyst for change; it is a paralytic” (Kinzel). Shame needs to be dealt with at the time it is first introduced; the problem does not need to be increased more than it already has. It doesn’t need to be overlooked again and again. As said before, shame can’t always be the motivator, and people with shame of themselves do not do anything about it. They feel like they cannot do anything to make the situation better. Kinzel argues that society needs to find ways to motivate the obese people into fixing their health problems. She says you can’t judge people just by their looks and size. When a person is trying to please society around them rather than trying to

Weight discrimination “generally refers to negative weight-related attitudes toward an overweight or obese individual” (Puhl 1). Obesity numbers started to skyrocket in the 1990s and weight discrimination started to become a problem about five years later. Obese individuals are susceptible to weight discrimination at health care facilities, school, work, and even in personal relationships. Studies have found that the chances of experiencing weight discrimination increase the more an individual weighs. “In our study, 10 percent of overweight women reported weight discrimination, 20 percent of obese women reported weight discrimination and 45 percent of very obese women reported weight discrimination. men were lower, with 3 percent of overweight, 6 percent of obese and 28 percent of very obese men reporting weight discrimination. This finding also tells us that women begin experiencing weight discrimination at lower levels of body weight than men” (Puhl 2). For women weight discrimination is more common than race discrimination.

Obesity is a massive problem all around the world. It is predominantly an issue in the United Kingdom, but it also a difficulty in other countries, for instance, in the United States, Denmark, Germany, etc. Being obese may seem like an individual problem, but it can, in fact, be a social problem. In general, you can ask yourself: Who is to blame? Perhaps it is society, maybe it is the subjective experts, or conceivably it is you.