Stigma weighs heavily on obese people, contributing to greater health problems

The discrimination that obese people feel, whether it is poor service at a restaurant or being treated differently in the workplace, may have a direct impact on their physical health, according to new resepeople in the United States report facing some form of discriminatory experience, and the experience of weight discrimination plays into people’s own perspective about their weight. It seems that many people are internalizing the prejudice and stigma they feel, and it contributes to stress, which ultimately affects their health.”

Whether someone is overweight or obese is determined by the body mass index scale, which accounts for height, weight, and gender. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that 34% of U.S. adults are overweight and another 34% are obese. Being overweight is a predisposition for obesity, which puts people at risk for cancers, heart disease, diabetes, and other complications and quality of life issues.

The Purdue team’s findings are published in the Mfared worse in overall health when they were followed up with 10 years later,” Schafer said. “But we found there was a difference among those who felt they were discriminated against and those who didn’t.”

About 11% of those who were moderately obese and 33% of those who were severely obese reported weight discrimination, and these were the individuals who had the sharpest decline over time in their functional abilities, such as the capacity to climb stairs or carry everyday items. Functional ability is a key measure for health status, Schafer said.

“We’ve seen considerable progress to address racial and gender discrimination in the United States, but the iceberg of weight discrimination still receives relatively little attention,” said Ferraro, who studies obesity and aging. “This is an interesting paradox because as the rates of obesity rise in this country, one might expect that anti-fat prejudice would decline. Public health campaigns for weight control are needed, but the stigma that many obese persons experience also exacts a toll on health.”

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Schafer and Ferraro are affiliated with the Department of Sociology and the Center on Aging and the Life Course. Schafer, who will be an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Toronto this fall, is currently studying social relationships and health among retirement community residents. Ferraro, who is director of the Center on Aging and the Life Course, is continuing to work on obesity issues related to aging.

About the American Sociological Association and Social Psychology Quarterly

The American Sociological Association (http://www.asanet.org), founded in 1905, is a non-profit membership association dedicated to serving sociologists in their work, advancing sociology as a science and profession, and promoting the contributions to and use of sociology by society. Social Psychology Quarterly is a quarterly, peer-reviewed journal of the American Sociological Association.

The research article described above is available by request for members of the media. For a copy of the full study, contact Daniel Fowler, ASA’s Media Relations and Public Affairs Officer, at (202) 527-7885 or .

For more information about the study, members of the media can also contact Amy Patterson Neubert, Purdue News Service, at (765) 494-9723 or .

### Contact: Daniel Fowler 202-527-7885 American Sociological Association

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