Health & Medicine
'Fat Shaming' Will Not Solve the Weight Loss Epidemic
Kathleen Lees
First Posted: Sep 11, 2014 02:12 PM EDT
Discrimination against overweight or obese individuals will not increase their chances of weight loss. Quite the contrary. In fact, it is likely to carry the opposite effect, according to recent findings published in the journal Obesity.
Researchers from the UCL Epidemiology & Public Health in the United Kingdom examined about 3,000 residents for a four-year period and found that people experiencing weight discrimination gained more weight than those who did not deal with this type of bigotry.
"There is no justification for discriminating against people because of their weight," said lead author Dr Sarah Jackson (UCL Epidemiology & Public Health), in a news release. "Our results show that weight discrimination does not encourage weight loss, and suggest that it may even exacerbate weight gain.
"Previous studies have found that people who experience discrimination report comfort eating. Stress responses to discrimination can increase appetite, particularly for unhealthy, energy-dense food. Weight discrimination has also been shown to make people feel less confident about taking part in physical activity, so they tend to avoid it."
Findings revealed that, on average, after accounting for various baseline differences, people who acknowledged various weight discrimination gained an average of 2 pounds more than others who did not. On the other hand, those who did not lost an average of 1.5 pounds.
"Our study clearly shows that weight discrimination is part of the obesity problem and not the solution," researchers concluded.
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First Posted: Sep 11, 2014 02:12 PM EDT
Discrimination against overweight or obese individuals will not increase their chances of weight loss. Quite the contrary. In fact, it is likely to carry the opposite effect, according to recent findings published in the journal Obesity.
Researchers from the UCL Epidemiology & Public Health in the United Kingdom examined about 3,000 residents for a four-year period and found that people experiencing weight discrimination gained more weight than those who did not deal with this type of bigotry.
"There is no justification for discriminating against people because of their weight," said lead author Dr Sarah Jackson (UCL Epidemiology & Public Health), in a news release. "Our results show that weight discrimination does not encourage weight loss, and suggest that it may even exacerbate weight gain.
"Previous studies have found that people who experience discrimination report comfort eating. Stress responses to discrimination can increase appetite, particularly for unhealthy, energy-dense food. Weight discrimination has also been shown to make people feel less confident about taking part in physical activity, so they tend to avoid it."
Findings revealed that, on average, after accounting for various baseline differences, people who acknowledged various weight discrimination gained an average of 2 pounds more than others who did not. On the other hand, those who did not lost an average of 1.5 pounds.
"Our study clearly shows that weight discrimination is part of the obesity problem and not the solution," researchers concluded.
See Now: NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone