Weightism at Home and School
Weight discrimination often starts in the home and at school, where it has been shown that children as young as 3 years-old describing overweight children as “lazy”, “stupid”, “ugly”, and “mean” (Tomiyama, 2014). It has also been shown that overweight and obese children experience as much as twice the risk of bullying as normal weight children (Tomiyama, 2014). A study showed that children enrolled in weight loss camps who suffered weight-based teasing had a much higher likelihood to exhibit unhealthy binge and emotional eating behaviors than those not teased (Puhl & Suh, 2015). Among minority Hispanic and African American girls, a study found that weightism from peers and parents was strongly correlated with binge eating (Puhl & Suh, 2015). Additionally, and disturbingly, recent research discovered that overweight young women are less likely to be funded by their parents for college expenses, thus, limiting opportunity for many overweight females (Tomiyama, 2014). This made me wonder how my tween would fare in these coming years.
Weightism and the Media
Since the lean towards the thin ideal, (pun intended), and the proliferation of film, television, print, and online media, weightism has found a treacherous platform, which is influencing the exacerbation of fat shaming and prejudice against persons classified as overweight and obese. Social media is the driving force behind weight-based stereotypes and negative portrayals of people thought of as overweight and obese, as television and film repeatedly and regularly treat these individuals as the target of derogatory humor. Compared to thin people, characters who are overweight are rarely, if ever, seen in romantic relationships, are often depicted engaging in grossly stereotypical overeating, and are commonly looked at as comic relief solely for being “fat”. A recent study of 18 popular primetime television shows indicated a strong positive correlation between a female character’s weight and frequency of insulting comments made to her by others and also showed that laughter was greatest when negative comments were directed at female characters who are overweight (Schvey, Puhl, & Brownell, 2011).
Weightism at Work
Beyond school and home, weightism is practiced regularly in the workplace. A pilot study uncovered that certain companies actively desired and developed employee profiles that fit their particular brand and hired people they felt were the physical embodiment of their corporate image. People not fitting this profile were often left out of the hiring process altogether. Additionally, research has shown that an employees’ appearance was positively correlated with their pay and job prospects, and overweight and obese persons tended to be hired for lower paying jobs with limited chances for advancement and promotion. A survey by Eversheds, a coalition of corporate lawyers, showed that 16% of Americans believe that they were discriminated against due to their appearance (Warhurst, van den Broek, Hall, & Nickson, 2009).
The consequences for victims of weight discrimination are quite substantial. Weight stigmatization contributes to negative health outcomes and behaviors that promote and exacerbate obesity Current national estimates indicate that weight discrimination is among the most frequent forms of discrimination reported by adults and is comparable to rates of racial discrimination among women (Puhl & Suh, 2015).
My next post will explore psychological consequences, policy considerations, and how we can help those who are being discriminated against because of their weight.
References
Puhl, R., & Suh, Y. (2015). Health consequences of weight stigma: implications for obesity prevention and treatment. Current Obesity Reports, 4(2), 182–190. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13679-015-0153-z
Schvey, N. A., Puhl, R. M., & Brownell, K. D. (2011). The Impact of weight stigma on caloric consumption. Obesity, 19(10), 1957–1962. https://doi.org/10.1038/oby.2011.204
Tomiyama, A. J. (2014). Weight stigma is stressful. A review of evidence for the Cyclic Obesity/Weight-Based Stigma model. Appetite, 82, 8–15. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2014.06.108
Warhurst, C., van den Broek, D., Hall, R., & Nickson, D. (2009). Lookism: The new frontier of employment discrimination? Journal of Industrial Relations, 51(1), 131–136. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022185608096808
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