Posts Tagged ‘weight stigma’

The big JAMA obesity issue came out this week with a promising theme: “Reimagining Obesity in 2018.” It was full of good new data on bariatric surgery. But it was a little short on imagination. At JAMA, judging by the content of this special issue, they’re still not quite ready to rethink obesity. Count Calories, […]

It’s here. Diet season is cranking up and the advertisements are bombarding us. Gyms will make the money that sustains them all year with memberships people don’t use. And many people will beat up on themselves when short-term self-help goals fall flat. May we suggest a small dose of self-compassion? The Virtue of Self-Compassion Popular […]

For three decades now, health policy to address obesity has followed the boogeyman model. Children, if you don’t behave better, the obesity boogeyman will get you. The boogeyman is an instinctive human response to to an ominous threat. Hundreds of variations thrive in cultures across time and all over the world, from Iceland to Indonesia. […]

How Everyday Language Casually Stigmatises Obesity – And What to Do About It Obesity is a highly stigmatised condition. Those with obesity are frequently subject to prejudice and ridicule at home, school, work, and even from health care professionals. Every day, they face social rejection and are deemed lazy, unattractive, unmotivated and unhappy. Alarmingly, many obese […]

What mother thinks is important. Children want a mother’s approval and mothers tend to see the best in their children. So is it a problem that mothers tend not to think of their children as overweight? Some researchers think so. “We know that parents tend not to recognise when their children are overweight or obese,” […]

Body satisfaction among women might be getting better. This supposition is more than just wishful thinking or a reading from the tea leaves of popular culture. A new analysis of research across three decades found a trend toward less body dissatisfaction in women. It showed no change in men. Bryan Karazsia presented the research at the […]

Ira Glass and This American Life get a B+ for telling stories about fatness on this popular public radio program. In an episode called “Tell Me I’m Fat,” Glass presents a pretty complete picture of the pervasive bias against people living in big bodies. Roughly half of the episode revolves around Lindy West and her experience “coming […]

The study published last week on metabolic adaptation in participants from the Biggest Loser reality show has captured the imagination of both the public and the media. The results are not pretty. Some elegant science with a simple message – human metabolism resists an extreme weight loss scenario – has been twisted in some disturbing ways. An optimistic […]