Early and ongoing experiences of weight stigma linked to self-directed weight shaming

New study identifies key characteristics of people who internalize weight bias

July 15, 2019

Science Daily/University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine

Weight bias is a common form of prejudice against people who are viewed as having excess weight. Some individuals who struggle with weight may internalize the stigma directed toward them, blaming and devaluing themselves because of their weight. While it's known that weight "self-stigma" is associated with poor mental and physical health, it isn't clear who is most prone to this internalization. In a new study published today in Obesity Science and Practice, researchers at Penn Medicine and the University of Connecticut Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity surveyed more than 18,000 adults enrolled in the commercial weight management program WW International (formerly Weight Watchers Inc.), and found that participants who internalized weight bias the most tended to be younger, female, have a higher body mass index (BMI), and have an earlier onset of their weight struggle. Participants who were black or had a romantic partner had lower levels of internalization.

"We don't yet know why some people who struggle with their weight internalize society's stigma and others do not," said the study's lead author Rebecca Pearl, PhD, an assistant professor of Psychology in Psychiatry in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. "These findings represent a first step toward helping us identify, among people trying to manage their weight, who may be most likely to self-stigmatize. People who are trying to lose weight may be among the most vulnerable to weight self-stigma, but this issue is rarely discussed in treatment settings."

Research has found that, beyond the effects of BMI and depression, self-directed weight stigma is associated with increased risk for cardiovascular and metabolic disease. In this study -- the largest investigation of weight self-stigma in the world -- researchers surveyed adults to identify key characteristics and experiences of people who internalize weight bias.

Participants recalled when in their life they experienced weight stigma from other people, how frequent and how upsetting the experiences were, and who it was that called them names, rejected them, or denied them an opportunity simply because of their weight. Results showed that almost two-thirds of the participants reported experiencing weight stigma at least once in their life, and almost half reported experiencing these events when they were children or teens. The researchers examined the relationships between these experiences and levels of self-directed stigma.

Participants who reported experiencing weight stigma from others had higher levels of internalized weight bias than those who reported no experiences of weight stigma. Researchers say this was particularly true for participants who had weight-stigmatizing experiences early in life and continued to have these upsetting experiences as adults. People who experienced weight stigma from family members or friends, or from those in their workplace, community, or health care setting, also had greater evidence of weight self-stigma compared to participants who did not encounter weight stigma from those sources.

"Our findings can inform ways to support people who are experiencing or internalizing weight stigma, including opportunities to address weight stigma as part of weight management and healthy lifestyle programs," said the study's principal investigator Rebecca Puhl, PhD, a professor of Human Development and Family Sciences at the University of Connecticut.

The study sample, although the largest to date, represented only a small percentage of WW members, so the findings may not generalize to all members or to adults trying to lose weight in other ways. Some prior research has suggested that people who internalize weight bias may have worse long-term weight loss outcomes, but more research on this topic is needed.

In addition, Pearl's team is developing a psychological intervention for weight self-stigma that can be incorporated into weight management.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/07/190715075424.htm

People with obesity often 'dehumanized

April 3, 2019

Science Daily/University of Liverpool

New research, published in Obesity, has found that people with obesity are not only stigmatised, but are blatantly dehumanised.

Obesity is now very common in most of developed countries. Around one third of US adults and one quarter of UK adults are now medically defined as having obesity. However, obesity is a complex medical condition driven by genetic, environmental and social factors.

Previous research has suggested that people often hold stigmatising and prejudiced views about obesity.

This new research conducted at the University of Liverpool, led by Dr Inge Kersbergen and Dr Eric Robinson examined whether stigmatising views about obesity may be more extreme than previously shown. The research examined whether people believe that individuals with obesity are less evolved and human than those without obesity.

Methods used

As part of a recognised research approach employed in a number of other studies, more than 1500 participants, made up of people from the UK, USA and India, completed online surveys to indicate how evolved they consider different groups of people to be on a scale from 0-100.

The researchers also recorded the BMI of those completing the survey to find out whether blatant dehumanisation of obesity was more common among thinner people and investigated whether blatant dehumanisation predicted support for health policies that discriminate against people because of their body weight.

Results

Participants on average rated people with obesity as 'less evolved' and human than people without obesity. On average, participants placed people with obesity approximately 10 points below people without obesity. Blatant dehumanisation was most common among thinner participants, but was also observed among participants who would be medically classed as being 'overweight' or 'obese'.

People who blatantly dehumanised those with obesity were more likely to support health policies that discriminate against people because of their weight.

Eric Robinson, a Reader at the University of Liverpool, said: "This is some of the first evidence that people with obesity are blatantly dehumanised. This tendency to consider people with obesity as 'less human' reveals the level of obesity stigma.

"It's too common for society to present and talk about obesity in dehumanising ways, using animalistic words to describe problems with food (e.g. 'pigging out') or using images that remove the dignity of people living with obesity. Obesity is a complex problem driven by poverty and with significant genetic, psychological and environmental components. Blatant or subtle dehumanisation of any group is morally wrong and in the context of obesity, what we also know is that the stigma surrounding obesity is actually a barrier to making long-term healthy lifestyle changes."

Inge Kersbergen, now a research fellow at the University of Sheffield, said: "Our results expand on previous literature on obesity stigma by showing that people with obesity are not only disliked and stigmatised, but are explicitly considered to be less human than those without obesity. The fact that levels of dehumanisation were predictive of support for policies that discriminate against people with obesity suggests that dehumanisation may be facilitating further prejudice."

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/04/190403113933.htm