logo
logo
Sign in

The Sad Prejudice of Fat-shaming

avatar
insights care
The Sad Prejudice of Fat-shaming

Sitting in the waiting area of a clinic was a girl, suffering from obesity syndrome. She looked flushed. Not because of the hustle she had to go through to get in the chair, but because of the embarrassment brought upon her by all the judgmental eyes around. Surprisingly, joining the audience was the compounder, and a well-trained one at that. This, for us, is a normal scenario. Everywhere we go, the stigma of fat-shaming exists. And what is worse, some people even do it openly. Not only has it harmed the mental health of numerous people, but has also made their physical conditions worse.

The Contradictory Study

Some people think that through fat-shaming they can push obese people to lose weight and concentrate on the fitness. But, according to a study conducted by the University of Pennsylvania, this actually has an opposite effect. In this study, 159 people underwent a survey where they were asked about how negative they feel about being obese or fat. The results of this study indicated that the people who felt more embarrassed and negative about their weight were actually more prone to the diseases related to obesity. Explaining the reason behind this, the lead researcher of this study said, “When people feel shamed because of their weight, they are more likely to avoid exercise and consume more calories to cope with this stress. In this study, we identified a significant relationship between the internalization of weight bias and having a diagnosis of metabolic syndrome, which is a marker of poor health.

collect
0
avatar
insights care
guide
Zupyak is the world’s largest content marketing community, with over 400 000 members and 3 million articles. Explore and get your content discovered.
Read more