Natalie S.

Media Studies
May 2011

Turning Off the Television and Keeping the Lid on The Cookie Jar
Fat stereotypes in mass media and their effects on the medical treatment of the obesity
epidemic.

In 2004, several newspapers, including the Daily Mail and the Telegraph,

revealed that doctors at the Royal London Hospital had a shocking case: specialists

there had seen four children “choked by their fat” who needed assistance breathing to

treat sleep disorders due to blocked airways. The original claim was that a three-year

old girl weighing 84 pounds had recently died of being too fat, but researchers had

maintained that she had in fact suffered from a genetic abnormality. From an article

published by the British newspaper the Independent: a report put out by the Commons

Health Committee highlighted the girl’s case, reporting that overeating would soon kill

more than smoking and that “today’s children would become to first generation to die

before their parents.” This report was given blanket coverage in the media; some

newspapers accused the child’s parents of “stuffing her to death,” others saying this

was a “wake-up call” for parents. A memo written by Dr. Sheila McKenzie, a consultant

who runs an obesity clinic at the Royal London Hospital, stated that the girl had died of

heart failure, secondary to extreme obesity, and that the only solution to childhood

obesity was to reduce the consumption of fatty, sugary goods, and increase sport and

exercise. However, specialists from Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge, made a

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different diagnosis: the girl had been suffering from a genetic defect that gave her in

insatiable appetite and that it was “completely inappropriate” to link her case to the

problem of childhood obesity. Professor Stephen O’Rahilly, head of the obesity

research laboratory At Addenbrooke’s, spoke out against the injustice done to the

parents:

When a child is exposed on the front page of The Sun as the poster child for the

obesity problem it seemed to us rather cruel that this was being presented as an

example of how parents were stuffing their children. It seemed a terrible

indictment of the parents when we knew there was a genetic defect in this child

and we knew 100 percent that was the cause of her obesity. There is very little

parents can do to control it. If the fridge is locked they will eat frozen food straight

from the freezer. It is desperately cruel to inflict blame on the parents for this type

of problem.

Thousands have been identified with various genetic disorder that cause obesity, but

the media do nothing but place blame on individuals who simply don’t deserve it.

Worldwide, obesity is recognized as a health risk. However, it is also the last

accepted social prejudice. Activists say that those who are overweight or obese face

discrimination in employment, education, housing, and medical care. Our society is

obsessed with appearance and, especially, weight. Overweight people face fat stigma

and cruelty on a daily basis, in a way that no other segment of society tolerates. Past

studies involving adopted children have shown that the adopted children have similar

body weights to their biological parents, even though there were exposed to the eating
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habits of another set of parents (Loos & Bouchard 2003, Campos et al. 2005). Not all fat

people are affected by genetic disorders, but many are. Most People are not obese

because of a "lack of willpower." Many patients have spent a lifetime in the tedious

management of their obese state. The genetic component of obesity is not considered a

genetic disease the way that Down syndrome, hemophilia, or cerebral palsy are in mass

media. Through television and film, the public is taught to believe stereotypes about fat

people. The most common stereotypes are that fat people are “undisciplined, dishonest,

sloppy, ugly, socially unattractive, sexually unskilled, and less likely to do productive

work,” and if they wanted to lose weight, they could (Greenberg et al. 2003). The result

is bias and discrimination towards overweight persons in social context and in the

medical field. A study done in 2003 showed that obesity specialists showed an explicit

anti-fat bias. Weight-related bias and stigma contribute to the physical and psychosocial

consequences of obesity. The strength of social bias against obese individuals is

evident from the fact that even health professionals who specialize in the obesity area

are not immune. Experts on obesity inferred that obese people have “blameworthy

behavioral characteristics that contribute to their condition,” for example, laziness

(Schwartz et al. 2003).

Popular media’s treatment of issues like obesity communicates what is a “social

norm” and shapes viewers’ perceptions of obese individuals. Mass media affects our

views, but much of what the public is being fed is misinformation. A study done in 2003

by Schwartz et al. looked at possible ways to reduce anti-fat bias in the medical field,

which is the most important area to eliminate stigma. The researches tried two

strategies: manipulating beliefs about causes of obesity and inducing empathy for
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obese persons. This part of the study showed increased anti-fat bias, but lower implicit

and explicit biases when subjects read a story of an obese person’s experience with

prejudice or social rejection. Considering this data, the most effective way to decrease

social and medical fat stigma would be for the media to publish and promote stories

about people’s personal experiences with anti-fat prejudice in order to get the medical

field to stop focusing on blaming obese people for their behavior and start finding

medical cures for the obesity epidemic.

America has grown increasingly fat over the past two decades, but there is no

evidence that weight-based discrimination is disappearing (Schafer & Ferraro 2011).

Obesity is a major public health challenge in the United States. Between 1991 and

1998, obesity rates increased 50% in the United States and in most countries around

the world (Greenberg et al. 2003). The health effects of obesity are substantial. There

are physical and biological effects of the condition, but there are also social

ramifications of being overweight. The negative stereotypes that are associated with

obese individuals are nasty: undisciplined, dishonest, ugly, socially unattractive,

sexually unskilled, less likely to do productive work, lazy, and sloppy, among other

attributes (Greenberg et al. 2003). The result of these stereotypes is an anti-fat bias and

discrimination in vital areas of living, such as, education, employment, and medical care

(Greenberg et al. 2003). The glorification of thin bodies in the media and the

condemnation of larger ones has been labeled “fat stigmatization:” “the devaluing of an

individual due to excess body weight. Fat stigmatization stems from a variety of factors,

including negative attitudes and cultural beliefs that equate body fat with gluttony and

laziness, and the belief that weight can be controlled with self-regulation,” (Himes &
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Thompson 2007).

Stigma and discrimination are key social and environmental factors that

contribute to health (Greenberg et al. 2003). Research indicates that weak health, poor

quality of life, low access to health services, reluctance to seek health care, and

possibly poorer care received from providers is related to discrimination based on race,

age, and gender. Obese persons may face similar discriminations, meaning, there is a

need to understand why these negative social attitudes are being communicated

(Greenberg et al. 2003). Fat stigmatization research has occurred indicating that

overweight and obese children, adolescent, and adults are often negatively stereotyped,

treated differently, and face discrimination, starting in mass media, and primarily

television (Himes & Thompson 2007).

Beyond the issue of discrimination, stigma can affect health. A growing body of

recent research shows the internalizing weight-relating stigma has negative

consequences. Promotion of the thin ideal through media occurs in two ways. The first,

attractive images of successful, thin women are shown as “goals” to be copied. The

second, images or characterizations of overweight and obese characters are

stigmatized, further reinforcing the thin ideal. One way in which fat stigmatization is

affecting health is that the stress process can produce ill health effects (Schafer &

Ferraro 2011). The stress of perceived discrimination adds extra challenged to the

existing health threats of obesity. There is also evidence from a study done in 2004 by

Wang, Brownell, and Wadden that obese people themselves harbor implicit

devaluations of fat people. This is along with evidence that obese people’s

internalization of anti-fat bias shapes their health behaviors, for example, not seeing a
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physician regularly due to fear of stigma (Schafer & Ferraro 2011). A study done in

2011 found that social processes of perceived weight discrimination are responsible, at

least partially, for the deleterious effects of severe obesity on health. The results of this

study are highly important because they suggest that being marginalized because of

weight can cause steeper health declines. Social factors are implicated in health

problems that are associated with obesity, right alongside the physiologic causes. This

adds to the growing amount of research showing that social discrimination can affect a

disease.

The most damaging effect of fat stereotypes is stigma in the medical field.

Numerous surveys indicate that the American public is affected by bias against people

who are overweight and obese. Physicians are also guilty of expressing these biases

(Whyte 2010). A nationally represented survey of primary care physicians revealed that

more than half of respondents think that patients who are obese were “awkward and

unattractive, but more than 50 percent believed that they would be noncompliant with

treatment. One-third thought of them as ‘weak-willed’ and ‘lazy.’ Another study found

that as patients’ weight increased, physicians reported having less patience, less faith in

patients’ ability to comply with treatment, and less desire to help them,” (Whyte 2010).

This prejudice is due, in part, to how the media portrays people who are obese. A study

done by Greenberg et al. in 2003 reported on television actors’ body mass index (BMI)

after reviewing 5 episodes of the top 10 prime-time shows. When comparing actors’ BMI

to the actual American public’s only 25 percent of men on television were overweight or

obese, compared to the 60 percent of American men. The results for women are

shocking. Almost 90 percent of women on TV were at or below “normal” weight,

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compared to only 50 percent of American women (Greenberg et al. 2003). One of the

biggest players in the media’s portrayal of fat people is The Biggest Loser; even the

show’s name is an offensive innuendo. The Biggest Loser is a highly successful

television show and publishing enterprise. Participants are selected based on their

morbid obesity. Most people who are overweight are not morbidly obese and do not

have numerous trainers, dietitians, and life coaches (Whyte 2010). The Biggest Loser

promotes the perception that obesity is caused by individual failure and lack of will

power rather than a mixture of individual, environment, and genetic sources (Whyte

2010). The treatment of issues like obesity in the popular media is important because

their content communicates model behaviors (Greenberg et al. 2003). Just as media

portrayals of alcohol or tobacco glamorize these activities, media images shape

viewers’ perceptions of overweight or obese individuals. Social science researchers,

social commentators, and the popular press agree that television in particular may

perpetuate negative stereotypes about obese persons. They also suggest that

overweight persons are ridiculed and shown to be undesirable in a variety of ways

(Greenberg et al. 2003).

Weight bias in medical care and health professionals is a growing major concern.

The relationship between obesity and higher medical use and health care costs is

influenced by the pathophysiology of obesity, but is also the result of obese patients

being reluctant to seek health care because of weight bias, which prevents early

treatment, and increased the chances of medical problems and health care costs

(Schwartz et al. 2003). A study done in 2003 showed that health professionals

associated the stereotypes “lazy, stupid, and worthless” with obese people. The
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respondents were professionals who treat and study obesity, a group that understands

that obesity is caused by genetic and environmental factors and is not a function of

individual behavior. The stigma of obesity is so strong that even experts on the subject

infer that obese people have blameworthy behavioral characteristics that contribute to

their condition (for example, laziness). The perceptions of laziness lead to blaming an

individual for his or her obesity, which influences the professionals’ behavior both

overtly and subtlety. (Schwartz et al. 2003). In a recent survey of obese patients, nearly

two-thirds indicated that “most doctors don’t understand how difficult it is to be

overweight.” A significant number of family practice physicians describe obese patients

with negative terms such as “lacking self-control.” In one survey, 24% of nurses

reported they were “repulsed” by obese persons; 35% to 48% reported they were

uncomfortable caring for obese patients; 31% to 42% said they would rather not care for

obese patients at all. (Schwartz et al. 2003). When obese patients are uncomfortable in

health care settings, it is not surprising if they avoid care. One study assessing patients

and physicians found that heavier women had more negative feelings about their

bodies, which led to reluctance to obtain annual exams (C.H. Adams et al. 1993).

However, there is good news. The media has the potential to promote health and

discourage anti-fat bias and stigma. There is no doubt that the media plays an important

role in educating the public on health topics.

Prime-time television continues to be one of America’s most popular activities.

Top-rated television shows reach as many as 30 million viewers weekly. It is highly

important to document the portrayals of various body types because of amount of

people that are exposed to these ideas and images. Television creates and perpetuates
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negative stereotypes about obesity and it is having an impact on the bias and

discrimination aimed at these individuals. The majority of the United States population is

overweight and our public health depends on the end of negative stereotyping. A survey

done by the Center for Disease Control (CDC) of United States residents who watch

television at least twice a week showed that half of the respondents believed the health

information presented on TV was accurate and 26% cited prime-time TV programs as

one of their top three sources for health information (Whyte 2010). Media can be used

to address the obesity epidemic by providing credible and evidence-based information

to increase health literacy, help Americans live healthier lives, and start to remove the

stigmatization of obese people.

Media is responsible for promoting the information the public knows about

obesity. But media is also responsible for some of the sedentary lifestyle changes that

have been present in the last twenty years. All change begins with our youth, including

obesity. During the same time period in which childhood obesity has increased

dramatically, there has been a large increase in the amount of media targeted to

children: TV shows and videos, cable networks, video games, computer activities, and

websites (The Role of Media in Childhood Obesity 2004). Much of the media targeted to

children is full of advertisements promoting candy, soda, and snacks. It is estimated that

the typical child sees about 40,000 ads a year on TV alone (The Role of Media in

Childhood Obesity 2004). Media researchers have theorized that media may contribute

to childhood obesity in one or more of the following ways: “the time children spend using

media displaces time they could spend in physical activities; the food advertisements

children are exposed to on TV influence them to make unhealthy food choices; the
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cross promotions between food products and popular TV and movie characters are

encouraging children to buy and eat more high-calorie foods; children snack excessively

while using media, and they eat less healthy meals when eating in front of the TV;

watching TV and videos lowers children’s metabolic rates below what they would be

even if they were sleeping; depictions of nutrition and body weight in entertainment

encourage children to develop less healthy diets,” (The Role of Media in Childhood

Obesity 2004). Some advocates and researchers have criticized TV producers for not

including more depictions of obese characters and for negatively portraying the obese

characters that do make it onto the screen. A report from the Kaiser Foundation stated

“it could be argued that portraying obesity as an unhealthy and undesirable

characteristic—and associating it with overeating—sends an appropriate message to

youth,” (The Role of Media in Childhood Obesity 2004). The increase in media targeted

toward children in causing them to sit more and eat less, and aiding the obesity

epidemic gain momentum.

The genetic component of obesity is highly complex, but it is also uncommon.

Most people who are obese do not have a genetic disease or disorder, such as, leptin

deficiency, insulin resistance, or metabolic syndrome. From the British newspaper, The

Telegraph, “Academics fond that people could work off around 40 percent of the extra

weight that ‘fat genes’ laid on them by exercising.’” Although some people undeniably

are genetically predisposed to be overweight, according to this article, scientists at the

Medical Research Council’s Epidemiology Unit in Cambridge has discovered that

having a more active lifestyle can change a person’s genetics. The research was done

by analyzing 20,000 men and women aged 39 to 79, searching for genetic markers that
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are known to increase body mass index (BMI). The conclusions of the study were that

“finding challenges to the popular myth that obesity is unavoidable if it runs in the family

and could guide future treatments to combat the obesity crisis,” (Adams 2010). This

article presents information that a study was done showing that the genetic element of

obesity is entirely reversible and is essentially curable with behavioral adjustments.

The reasons that obesity rates are rising are a lack of exercise and unhealthy

eating habits, not genetic inhibitors. The solution to the obesity epidemic lies with

America’s children. If we can stop obesity in children, we can stop obesity all-together.

Children tend to eat what their parents eat, which is why obese children tend to have

obese parents; eating habits are learned at home. An article from Reuters, citing its

source as the “Archive of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, November 2008,” states

that a study of 120 young children who were allowed to “buy” food from a pretend

grocery store, researchers found that two-year-olds tended to mirror heir parents’ usual

food choices. Children who “bought” sweets, sugary, drinks, and salty snacks generally

had parents whose grocery list had similar items. These findings suggest that young

children do not automatically reach for sugar when given the opportunity and that real

eating influences come from parents. In the Reuters article, Dr. Lisa A Sutherland of

Dartmouth Medical School in Lebanon, New Hampshire stated, “The data suggests that

children begin to assimilate and mimic their parents’ food choices at a young age, even

before they are able to fully appreciate the implication of these choices.” It is of vital

importance that parents begin influencing their children to make healthier eating choices

and start exercising more. In a statement made in 2003 before the Committee on

Education and the Workforce of the United States House of Representatives, Richard
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H. Carmona, the United States Surgeon General said that the three key factors that

must be addressed in order to reduce and eliminate childhood obesity in American are:

increased physical activity, healthy eating habits, and improved health literacy. In this

statement, the surgeon general also said:

Why are we facing this epidemic of overweight and obesity? Over 50 genes

associated with obesity have been located in the human gene map. But the ever-

increasing problem of overweight among American children cannot be explained

away by changes in genetic composition. Studies conducted by HHS’ National

Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are

already yielding important clues about the multiple factors that contribute to

overweight and obesity. Studies are also providing new information about

potentially successful interventions. We know more than ever about the

combination of genetic, social, metabolic, and environmental factors that play a

role in children’s weight. But the fundamental reason that our children are

overweight is this: Too many children are eating too much and moving too little.

In some cases, solving the problem is as easy as turning off the television and

keeping the lid on the cookie jar. Our children did not create this problem. Adults

did. Adults increased the portion size of children’s meals, developed the games

and television that children find spellbinding, and chose the sedentary lifestyles

that our children emulate. So adults must take the lead in solving this problem… I

believe that what they see and hear in the media can have a profound effect on

their choices.
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(Carmona 2007). The children of American did not create this problem, the adults did.

Adults created the current portion sizes and the media draws that create sedentary

lifestyles. Therefore, it is the adults’ responsibility to teach children to enjoy healthy

foods in healthy portions and start becoming more active (Carmona 2007). The best

way is to lead by example, which would help the adult obesity population in the process.

There is much debate over whether obesity has a genetic element or not, but there is no

debate as to whether behavior affects obesity and that exercise and healthy eating can

help those who are obese.

The social effects of fat stigma are everywhere. The article “When Doctors Judge

Their Obese Patients,” published by the Huffington Post in 2011 is a first hand account

from a doctor who deals with an obese patient who has suffered other health

consequences due to avoiding health care because of the “vile, venal, vituperative

[medical] reception” (Katz 2011) she had been given in the past because of her weight.

In the article, it points out that not only should she have been receiving help for her

increasing weight, but she should have had cancer-screening tests, and did not. She

should have had received tests for cardiac risk and select immunizations, but did not.

The patient was removed from all the benefits of modern medicine because she was

afraid of fat stigma.

It has become clear in recent years that the effects of obesity stigma trickle down

into the medical field. In the medical journal, Obesity, researchers Rebecca M. Puhl and

Chelsea A. Heuer did a review of Obesity Stigma in almost every element of society. In

their article, they summarize and connect almost every study done on obesity stigma
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done in the last decade. In the “entertainment media” section of their article they state

that researchers, “Himes and Thompson recently examined 135 scenes from movies

and televisions shows, finding that weight stigmatization and humor were often verbal

and direct. Males and females are almost equally as likely to be targets of weight

stigma; however, male characters were three times more likely to engage in fat

stigmatization and humor than female characters. The authors note that the immense

popularity of the shows containing portrayals of weight stigmatization indicates its social

acceptability,” (Puhl & Heuer 2009). As Puhl and & Heuer continue their analyses, they

found that weight stigmatization in children’s entertainment as well: “a content analysis

of 25 popular children’s videos and 20 top children’s books (for ages 4-8) found that thin

female characters were depicted as having desirable traits such as sociability, kindness,

happiness, and success. In contrast, overweight characters were commonly depicted as

evil, unattractive, unfriendly, and cruel. Overweight characters were never shown in

romantic relationships with thin characters, were often disliked by others, and often

shown thinking about or eating food,” (Puhl & Heuer 2009). In 2001, researchers Puhl &

Brownell summarized several studies demonstrating that health-care professionals

(e.g., physicians, nurses, psychologists, and medical students) possess negative

attitudes toward obese patients, including beliefs that obese patients are lazy,

noncompliant, undisciplined, and have low will power. A large amount of research has

been done since 2001 to support this idea (Puhl & Heuer 2009). Puhl & Brownell

examined experienced of weight stigma among overweight and obese women and

found that 53% reported receiving inappropriate comments from doctors about their

weight. Furthermore, doctors were reported as the second most common source of
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stigma, among a list of over 20 possible sources (Puhl & Heuer 2009). Sixty nine

percent of women reported experiencing stigma from other healthy professionals

including nurses (46%), dietitians (37%), and mental health professionals (21%).

Another study of 161 obese adults attending dietetic outpatient clinics in the United

Kingdom found that the majority of respondents (84%) agreed, “weight is blamed for

most medical problems,” (Puhl & Heuer 2009).

In the early 1990s, research started being published that showed the connection

between genetics and obesity. An article from Wayne State University Press Biology

Journal published in 1994 stated:

It is becoming increasingly clear that hereditary factors play an important role in

obesity and body fat distribution. Genetic studies of adult obesity using the body

mass index (BMI) have been conducted on monozygotic and dizygotic twins

reared together and apart, on adoptive families, and on adopted (genetically

unrelated) and full siblings using a variety of statistical procedures and study

designs. The results indicate a strong familial component to BMI that appears to

be largely genetic in origin. Investigations of familial similarities in body fat

distribution indexes also support a genetic cause, although the magnitude of the

heritable factors is less than that typically observed for overall obesity,” (Cardon,

Carmelli, Fabsitz, Reed 1994)

The genetic element of obesity is in fact a complex issue and does not affect

every person who suffers from being overweight, but those who do carry some of the

many genes related to obesity are stigmatized and misdiagnosed because of

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newspapers like The Telgraph that published both the article about the girl who was

“choked to death” by her fat when she in fact had a genetic disorder and published the

article stating that the genetic element of obesity is entirely reversible with behavioral

adjustments and requires no medical attention whatsoever. The sources The Telegraph

cites are “medical journals” that users can edit at their will, and therefore, not a reliable

source for a news article.

It is true that our current lifestyle is more sedentary than ever. Americans are

being exposed to more and more media and are moving less because of it. While some

obese people are not fat due to genetic predisposition, some are, but do not blame their

weight on it. A New York Times article examining a CNBC documentary “One Nation,

Overweight” said:

The CNBC correspondent Scott Wapner interviews experts who describe obesity

as a disease, but the obese people he speaks to rarely blame their size on

genetic predisposition or other extenuating circumstances.

‘I did to this myself,’ says Henry Butler, 62, who was 330 pounds when he went

to the Cleveland Clinic. ‘Who said I had to eat all that?’ (Stanley 2010).

Experts on obesity are classifying obesity as a disease and not a lifestyle choice, and

while many obesity-related genetic disorders cause insatiable hunger, those who suffer

from them are unaware of their conditions and tend to overeat.

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While there is no longer a medical debate as to whether a genetic element of

obesity exists, not everyone who is obese needs medicine to treat their obesity, and

simply need to adjust their lifestyle. However, when several studies looking at the

amount of time children spend using media displacing time spent in more physical

activities, they failed to find a substantial relationship between the time children spend

watching TV and the time they spend in physical activity. While logic suggests that

extensive television viewing is part of a more sedentary lifestyle, the evidence for this

relationship has been surprisingly weak to date. In order for this relationship to be true,

children who watch less TV would have to be choosing physically vigorous activities

instead of TV, rather than sedentary activities such as reading, talking on the phone, or

playing board games (The Role of Media in Childhood Obesity 2004). Also, the idea of

“portraying obesity as an unhealthy and undesirable characteristic—and associating it

with overeating—sends an appropriate message to youth” is highly offensive to all

readers. If this idea were presented as “portraying Down syndrome as an undesirable

characteristic,” one would read the previous idea in entirely different context. Media

plays a large role is shaping our views. In a British qualitative study, primary care

physicians reported beliefs that obesity was caused by unhealthy diet and lack of

exercise and that it was the responsibility of the patients themselves to manage the

weight (Puhl & Heuer 2009). Extensive media exposure on topics such as this, clarifying

the medical and genetic components of obesity, would help get people the treatment

they need instead of endless dieting and exercising, which can only exacerbate certain

diseases.

Through television and film, the public is taught to believe stereotypes about fat
 Shields 18

people. The genetic component of obesity is not considered a genetic disease, such as

Down syndrome, hemophilia, and cerebral palsy, in the portrayal of fat people in mass

media, which results in bias and discrimination towards overweight persons in social

context and in the medical field. Mass media can be used to address the obesity

epidemic by providing credible and evidence-based information to increase health

literacy, help Americans live healthier lives, and start to remove the stigmatization of

obese people. The medical field needs to stop focusing on blaming obese people for

their behavior and start finding medical cures for the obesity epidemic.

Compared to other diseases, very little research has been about social attitudes

toward obesity, especially in the medical field. In summary, the studies that have been

done suggest several possible avenues for stigma-reduction. However, they also raise

questions about how successfully negative attitudes toward obese people will be

overcome. With such little amounts of research done on this topic, the most effective

methods of reducing weight bias cannot be determined yet. More work is clearly need to

examine key factors that are necessary for effective stigma reduction, and to determine

whether there are particular approaches, or combination of strategies, that may work

better than others in certain circumstances or populations (Puhl & Heuer 2009). Most of

the work thus far has tested interventions amount white college samples, with little or no

attention to the effect of interventions on sustainability of attitude modification over time,

how interventions on sustainability of attitude modification over time, how interventions

impact actual behavior changes, or comparison of existing bias-reduction methods. All

of which are important avenues for future research (Puhl & Heuer 2009).

Obese individuals often face discrimination in areas outside of the medical field,
 Shields 19

such as the work place. Unfortunately, considerable legal challenges remain for

individuals who have experienced weight discrimination. In the past decade, no new

state or federal laws have been passed on this issue. Washington D.C. and the cities of

San Francisco and Santa Cruz include body size in human rights ordinances, but

Michigan remains the only state that prohibits employment based discrimination on the

basis of weight. Due to the lack of legislation expressly prohibiting weight

discrimination, individuals must bring suit under existing laws prohibiting discrimination

on other characteristics, most commonly, the Americans with Disabilities Act, which

continues to provide individuals with nondiscrimination protection for persons with

disabilities. However, for obese individuals to qualify under this statute their obesity

must meet the definition of a disability and be established from a physiological cause,

making it difficult for most people to successfully bring discrimination claims. Thus, with

the exception of a few individuals who have filed claims and whose body weight

qualified them as “disabled” under the Americans with Disabilities Act definitions ,

employers continue to have legal freedom to discriminate against job applicants or

employees on the basis of weight (Puhl & Heuer 2009).

While medical research has mostly been untouched in this paper due to its

complex nature, it is important to address it. Several disorders and diseases such as

insulin resistance, leptin resistance, metabolic syndrome, Bardet-Biedl syndrome, and

Prader-Willi syndrome cause obesity. Proving that these conditions exist with medical

proof would certainly strengthen my argument, but because I am not an expert, I feel

that leaving out medical research only provides a more concise paper.

According to the National Center of Health Statistics, in 2002, almost 65% of

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adults in the United States were overweight (having a BMI > 25) and 31% of them are

obese (Loos & Bouchard 2003). The obesity epidemic since then has only gotten worse.

The portion sizes have gotten bigger, we are sitting longer, there are no medical cures

for obesity, and still the media does nothing but promote stereotypes about fat people.

There are movies whose entire premise is to poke fun at fat people, which would be

entirely unacceptable if the film was about any other disease someone is born with, but

because media promotes stereotypes about fat people, no one knows the difference

and the creators of these movies and television shows go unpunished. The media has

the power in this situation, and it needs to educate itself so that the media can educate

the people. Doctors are just people and are highly influenced by the media themselves.

When the highly persuasive stereotypes trickle down from movies and television into the

medical profession it hurts our the health of our nation because patients are not getting

the treatment that they need because obesity is a disease and not a lifestyle. In 2004,

when the three-year-old girl died from choking on her own fat due to her genetic

abnormality, perhaps she could have been saved had more been known about her

condition, and no one will know more about how to live with these conditions until the

media. stops spreading stereotypes, educates itself about obesity, and starts educating

the public.
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Works Cited

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Telegraph, 01 Sept. 2010. Web. 23 Mar. 2011.

Adams, Cynthia H., Nancy J. Smith, David C. Wilbur, and Kathleen E. Grady. "The

Relationship of Obesity to the Frequency of Pelvic Examinations Do Physician

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