WUNRN
FORMERLY OVERWEIGHT WOMEN EXPERIENCE
OBESITY STIGMA EVEN AFTER WEIGHT LOSS - STUDY
By Loren Grush - May 30, 2012 - FoxNews.com
Overweight women face a
multitude of hardships such as discrimination
in the workplace that arise from the stigma surrounding obesity.
While weight loss may seem like the solution for women hoping to escape
anti-fat prejudice, it may not be that simple after all.
New research out of the
Previous research has
shown that the harmful nature of obesity stigma crossed many domains, Dr. Janet
Latner, the study’s lead author at the
Published in the journal
Obesity, the study asked young men and women participants to read various
stories about a woman who had lost about 70 pounds, or a woman who was
currently obese or thin who had remained stable. The participants were then
asked to rate the women’s attractiveness and then give their opinions on fat
people in general.
We were surprised to
find that currently thin women were viewed more differently depending on their
weight history, Latner said in a press release.
We found that people who had lost weight were viewed more negatively in
terms of attractiveness than people who had remained stable regardless of
whether or not they had remained thin or obese, Latner told FoxNews.com.
Negative attitudes
toward the obese targets also seemed to increase when the participants were
falsely told that the person’s weight was easily controllable.
Though the researchers
cannot explain exactly why the findings were the way they were, Latner and her
colleagues theorized that people are perhaps more judgmental towards the obese,
because they believe that it is something the person can easily manage.
There are several
theories as to why anti-fat stigma persists,Latner said. The leading
theory is controllability theory suggesting that stigmatized conditions are
despised more when they are perceived as easily controllable, a widespread
perception about obesity. Our findings partly supported this theory by
demonstrating that reading vignettes describing weight loss led to greater
obesity stigma than reading vignettes describing weight stability.
Because of their
staggering findings, Latner and her team agree that government intervention is
necessary to reduce the prejudice against the overweight and obese.
We really need public
policies that combat obesity stigma, said Latner. Findings on effective
interventions to reduce weight stigma are limited. Some evidence suggests
that social consensus approaches, cognitive dissonance approaches and intensive
education approaches can be effective in reducing stigma.?
According to Latner,
while obesity is important to combat in today’s society, obesity stigma is just
as important to address, because its persistence could deter overweight women
from shedding the pounds.
The strength of obesity
stigma is so powerful, pervasive and persistent,? Latner added. Our
results show] just how strong and harmful it can be. Many people are seeking
weight loss to shake off the sting of obesity, and they may not necessarily
achieve that.