Social Stigma Of Obesity

This video, an HBO documentary associated with The National Institutes of Health and The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, discusses the social stigma of obesity in the United States. As mentioned in the video, this becomes a social problem in society because of all of the negative stereotypes that relate to someone that is obese, such as, lazy, lacking discipline, lacking willpower, unintelligent, sloppy, unsuccessful, and dishonest. These negative traits then lead to biases at home, in the doctor’s office, in the workplace, and in the media. As the video states, workplace discrimination is 30 times more likely for people that are obese and 100 times more likely for people that are extremely obese. An example of discrimination in

In the video, one of the researchers states that there are types of social stigma, such as derogatory statements, physical aggression, and cyber bullying, that debilitates the everyday functions of obese people. Most people think it motivates them to take action, but it does quite the opposite, it demoralizes, disheartens, makes them give up and eat more. As the people in the video report that being ridiculed by others makes them have low self-esteem and feel depressed, anxious, and even suicidal. They know they are overweight and feel there is no place in society where they feel protected and safe from the bias. To make matters worse, there is nothing that can be done legally when obese people are discriminated against, no federal laws that prohibit weight base discrimination.*** So they feel defeated and unsupported by society and even their own

An example of this from the video would be the lady who explained her disappointing trip to the doctor who said she couldn’t work with her as a patient so she left feeling belittled and ashamed. She decided not to go back, which led to lots of medical issues that went unnoticed. This social bias in the doctor’s office leads to obese people avoiding getting medical attention. Negative interaction between medical staff and obese patients has a ripple effect that, in the long run, indirectly affects everyone. More health problems for the obese, the more it will negatively impact their families, employers, and health care systems, and if they do not have health insurance, the effect doubles. Bias in the media also adds to this problem when images from media outlets show pictures of overweight and obese people in tight, non-fitting clothes, eating unhealthy full plates of food, and sitting, never standing or walking. These images portray an ugly picture of obesity, which then leads to prejudicial