Obesity : What Is Eating Me?

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.

The health risks that overweight and/or obese children tend to face are type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, asthma, and other illnesses. One article stated that “obese adults were more likely to have worse quality of life, poorer asthma control, and increased risk of asthma-related hospitalizations compared with their non-obese counterpart” (Quinto et al, 2011). This is also true for obese children. Children who are overweight and/or obese tend to have more doctor’s visits, prescribed medications, and may have trips to the hospital just like those who suffer from

Obesity is a prevalent condition in America that undeniably leads to a plethora of health complications, including heart disease, diabetes, and depression. However, while medical interventions can be useful for addressing obesity, treating it as a purely medical condition can decontextualize this growing issue. Additionally, it can support the use of ineffective but potentially harmful treatments by a group of disproportionately empowered medical professionals and industries, that are incentivized to maximize their profit. Obesity exists in the context of a society that moralizes eating habits and stigmatizes fat bodies, and the medicalization of obesity impacts not only those who are obese, but also those who become obsessed with avoiding obesity. Combatting obesity is hence a complex problem that should be treated with both medical and societal interventions, and a failure to do so will result in serious consequences.

Over the years, the obesity epidemic has swept across both developing and developed countries, causing concerns about potential health care burdens (Han, Lee, Lean, Finn, O'Neill, Bartfai, Forti, Giwercman, Kula, Pendleton, Punab, Rutter, Vanderschueren, Huhtaniemi, Wu & Casanueva, 2015). As Jackson, Beeken & Wardle (2015) discovered, weight discrimination is a perpetual issue faced by those classified as overweight or obese in western societies. Such discrimination can be the result of stigmatizing messages put forth by health care professionals and thus call for a need to raise awareness amidst these professionals (Jackson et al., 2015). When the human body undergoes the aging process, many of the physical changes can cause distress in the

With the state of unhealthy foods in the United States, where it is easily available to get "fatty" foods rather than the opposite, the obesity rates have gone up. The obesity epidemic has gone from an inconvenience to a soon-to-be problem. "In 2010, about 35.7% of U.S. adults — nearly 78 million people — were obese. That’s up from 30.5% in 2000, but not much of a difference from 33.7% in 2008" (Healthland.time.com). With the steady

Overweight patients may be greeted in society with negative attitudes and targeted biases due to their size. Many obese individuals suffer from verbal ridicule, stereotyping, and even discrimination. These negative societal attitudes reflect thoughts that an overweight individual is completely to blame for their weight instead of there being an understanding that there are many health and lifestyle factors that can impact obesity. There can be judgment as school for obese children, job discrimination in the workplace, and even disapproval in the healthcare system that leads the overweight population have negative self-esteem, depression, anxiety, and other sociological factors.

Obesity may have its most immediate consequences in psychological and social realms, where stigmatization of obese people has been recognized since a long time. A study showed that young boys described obese body types as being indicative of negative personality characteristics (such as; cheating, lazy, sloppy, lying, naughty, mean, ugly, dirty or stupid), and in younger children the degree of negative stereotyping increased with age, while among adolescents, girls may be more affected than boys, although both genders report some negative experiences (Puhl, 2012). The prejudice and discrimination against obese individuals does not appear to have softened, although obesity has now become far more common worldwide. Some of the negative consequences

Throughout history being heavyset was an indicator of wealth, while being skinny was closely linked to poverty. Today, however, if a person is fat or obese they are often described with negative traits like laziness, sloppiness, and not having self-control. Even though they are associated with unfavorable characteristics, the obesity overweight rates are continuously rising. Approximately sixty percent of Americans are currently overweight; about twenty-seven percent are clinically obese (Korn 212). As obesity and overweight rates rise, so does the discrimination against those considered overweight or obese in the workplace. To some, obesity is considered unattractive and because of this heavyset people are often looked over by employers for

First, it says that there is not going to be and there is not just one person who has the ability to solve the problems of childhood obesity, rather a mix of professional interaction and guidelines that are set forth to help children who are obese. (McHugh 96). The study that was mentioned earlier found that a large amount of the people asked claimed to have “…humiliating and derogatory experiences when associating with the health industry” (McHugh 96 et. al Thomas, Hyde, Komesaroff). The article goes on to further say that a lot of the individuals interviewed clamed to not have very high satisfaction levels simply due to the fact they felt they did not have enough time, as well as they felt as though the doctor was trying too hard to give antidepressant medications (McHugh 96.) Some of the statistics that are mentioned in this article are that 40 million children worldwide will end up becoming obese by the time that they turn five years old. (McHugh 94). Aside from numerical data, the findings that this article mentions is that obesity in children can lead to childhood onset diabetes, cancers of types, as well as back and joint pain. Aside from the physical dangers, the article reveals that psychological dangers came as result too such as depression, and a lower self-value. Some of the psychological aspects can often times be over

In the United States, there are increasing numbers of people suffering from obesity. In Michael Pollan’s book “Omnivore’s Dilemma,” he says that three of every five Americans are overweight and one of every five is obese (76). Obesity becomes a major health problem in the United States. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the estimate medical cost of obesity in the United States was $147 billion a year. Why Americans are obese? The answer for obesity is that Americans are relying too much on fast food. Many factors that contribute to obesity epidemic; particularly, fast food is the chief causes of obesity.

Obesity is one of the most serious health challenges facing our nation. It is linked to an increased risk for type II diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, and even arthritis. One of the most alarming trends in the increase in obesity has been the climbing rates of childhood obesity. Obese children are more likely to become obese adults, and the chronic conditions they suffer as the result of their obesity will affect them and the healthcare system for far longer than their parent's generation.

It is not necessary to be an expert to know that obese people in our society are more likely to be excluded and prejudged on how well they can develop an activity. The article “Obesity, Bias and Stigmatization” explains the different types of stigmas our society has against obese people. Some of the discrimination methods the article mentions are verbal types “such as ridicule, teasing, insults, stereotypes, derogatory names or pejorative language.” Physical discrimination “such as medical equipment that is too small for obese patients, chairs or seats in public venues which do not accommodate obese persons, etc.”

Food is always at our convenience, and everywhere we go there are billboards, advertisements, and commercials encouraging us to eat and drink. Places that didn't used to carry food, like the gas station, now supplies hot dogs, sodas, and candy. The new trend is that daily life, for all ages, doesn't involve much physical activity and exercise. If we want to be active, we have to buy an expensive gym membership and nice running shoes. Poor diets combined with a lack of physical exercise is the cause of our problem with obesity, and our situation is getting worse by the year. According to the World Health Organization, obesity is predicted to become the biggest cause of death in only 6 years. Obesity targets all people, no matter your age, race, status, or gender. A

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.

The stigma against obese indivuduals is now global. It happens at the playground, during job interviews, while applying for graduate school, in court and even at the doctors office. (1-5)