FACTS, FIGURES, BLOGS, AND TRENDS This collection of articles and resources was gathered by Abbie Trayler-Smith on the topic of obesity, for her personal research. Please note this is an archive page, with no possible updates.
Tags: Obesity, chronic disease, stigma, shame, global epidemic, fat-shaming, discrimination, depression body mass index (BMI), body-fat percentage, mental health, fat pride
April 2020 The United States as the Center of a Global Pandemic Daniel W. Jones, MD, MACP The global epidemic of obesity is the key driver of the global cardiovascular disease pandemic. Cardiovascular disease is now the leading cause of death in most countries. Though the epidemic is a worldwide phenomenon, the United States remains the epicenter of this global health crisis.
Mars 2020 Most Overweight and Obese Cities in the U.S. Adam McCann Americans are some of the fattest people in the world, not just stereotypically but statistically too. In fact, almost 40 percent of U.S. adults are obese. But such a finding should come as no surprise, considering the huge availability of fast-food and increasingly cheaper grocery items that have negatively altered our diets. Unfortunately, the extra pounds have inflated the costs of obesity-related medical treatment to approximately $190.2 billion a year and annual productivity losses due to work absenteeism to around $4.3 billion.
March 2020 Obesity through the lens: The truth from within Tove Iren Spissøy Gerhardsen Obesity – The Truth from Within' puts a lens on the personal stories shared by people living with obesity, a chronic disease that affects more than 650 million people globally. Their efforts to manage the disease and shake off the burden of stigma are highlighted through a series of intimate portraits captured by photographer Abbie Trayler-Smith.
March 2020 Obesity through the lens: The truth from within Abbie Trayler-Smith “I have tried to learn to still love myself even though I have gotten bigger. I've tried to make peace with what I see in the mirror.” – Abigail
March 2020 The Obesity Pandemic and the Search for Solutions Jeongmin Lee The increasing worldwide burden of obesity and its associated pathologies has led to it being described as a global pandemic.1 Despite it association with serious diseases such as type 2 diabetes, hypertension, age-related dementia, osteoporosis, some cancers, and more, it has never received the urgent attention of rapidly spreading infectious diseases. This lack of attention is perhaps due to obesity often being viewed as a behavioral problem and not as a disease. Thus far, public health initiatives have been unable to reverse the increasing burden of obesity in any population,2 which exemplifies the urgent need for better public health strategies for preventing obesity and for more effective treatments of obesity.
2019
October 2019 250 million children worldwide forecast to be obese by 2030 Sarah Boseley Childhood obesity is rising exponentially worldwide as the relentless marketing of junk foods reaches around the globe and governments do too little to protect their children’s health, according to data shared with the Guardian. The number of obese children globally is predicted to reach 250 million by 2030, up from 150 million now. Only one in 10 countries have even a 50% chance of meeting the World Health Organization target of no rise in child obesity from 2010 to 2025
June 2019 Using genetics to understand the causal influence of higher BMI on depression #1 Internal Journal of Epidemiology Volume 48, Issue 3 Depression is more common in obese than non-obese individuals, especially in women, but the causal relationship between obesity and depression is complex and uncertain. Previous studies have used genetic variants associated with BMI to provide evidence that higher body mass index (BMI) causes depression but have not tested whether this relationship is driven by the metabolic consequences of BMI nor for differences between men and women. Read also: Using genetics to understand the causal influence of higher BMI on depression #2
June 2019 Why people become overweight First published: June, 2009 Everyone knows some people who can eat ice cream, cake, and whatever else they want and still not gain weight. At the other extreme are people who seem to gain weight no matter how little they eat. Why? What are the causes of obesity? What allows one person to remain thin without effort but demands that another struggle to avoid gaining weight or regaining the pounds he or she has lost previously?
March 2019 One in five Chinese children is overweight or obese, and the booming economy may be to blame, study reveals Katie Hunt, CNN, Updated 2330 GMT (0730 HKT) (CNN) One in five Chinese children is overweight or obese, a new study has found, up from just 1 in 20 in 1995. The research, published Tuesday, found that while China's rapid economic growth over the past two decades had been accompanied by a reduction in childhood growth stunting and thinness, the country has also seen a four-fold rise in the number of overweight and obese children. The authors said they were concerned to see such a marked increase. "This suggests a pressing need for policy responses that may include taxation of food and beverage with added sugars and fats, subsidies to promote dietary diversity, and strategies to promote physical activity and health education," said the study's co-author, Peking University professor Jun Ma.
2018
December 2018 Employers Are Discriminating Against Overweight Women — And It's Totally Legal. Weight stigma remains a socially acceptable — and legal — form of bias. Catherine Pearson, HuffPost US The majority of adults in this country are overweight or obese, and bias against them is demonstrably increasing. Research shows weight discrimination has increased by 66 percent in the past decade and is, by some estimates, as prevalent as racial discrimination. The stigma of being fat follows Americans everywhere: at home, in medical settings, at school and at work, where discrimination is rampant — and perfectly legal.
November 2018 Why are obese people depressed? Because they live in a hostile world Phoebe-Jane Boyd New research spells it out: the psychological impact of judgmental attitudes and a fat-shaming culture is profound. Obesity and depression: a chicken-and-egg situation that baffles and beguiles medical health professionals in surgeries and academic journals equally. Which truly comes first in this ouroboros of NHS resource drains – the incapacity to feel fully and interact with the world around you, or getting the 12-pack box of doughnuts instead of just the three because screw-it-I-deserve-some-happiness-today-don’t-I?
November 2018 Does depression cause obesity or does obesity cause depression? Tim Newman Although depression and obesity often come hand in hand, the relationship between the two is difficult to tease apart. A new, large-scale genomic study adds new evidence. Both obesity and depression are significant global health problems. According to the authors of the latest research, they cost the global economy trillions of dollars every year. Previous studies have noted that depression often appears in individuals who are overweight or obese. However, observational studies have not been able to demonstrate whether obesity causes depression, as there are many competing factors to consider.
October 2018 Obesity and Mental Health Jane Collingwood The world population is becoming rounder, and each year the situation is worsening. The World Health Organization (WHO) believes that we are in the grip of a global epidemic, and it is estimated by the year 2020 obesity will be the single biggest killer on the planet. Professor Philip James, Chairman of the International Obesity Task Force, said that “we now know that the biggest global health burden for the world is dietary in origin and is compounded by association with low physical activity levels. This is going to plague us for the next 30 years.” Currently at least 300 million adults worldwide are obese — a body mass index (BMI) of over 30 — and over one billion are overweight (BMI of more than 27.3 percent for women and 27.8 percent or more for men). The problem affects virtually all ages and socioeconomic groups.
October 2018 EASO #1 Challenging Obesity Stigma People living with obesity experience stigma on a daily basis, including in the workplace, in education, in media and even in healthcare settings. The stigma that society attaches to obesity has a significant impact on the lives of people with obesity, but what is the hardest part of living with obesity? Watch the video find out and help to lose the weight of stigma. Read also: EASO #2
October 2018 World Obesity Day: 5 things to know about weight stigma James Nobles Weight stigma is a social devaluation of people with overweight and obesity. Their weight, shape and size doesn’t comply with the dominant and enforced social norms. It can be viewed on a continuum: weight stigma (for example, assuming people with obesity lack willpower) leads to bias (treating people with obesity differently to others), which in turn creates discrimination (such as removing access to healthcare based upon a person’s weight).
October 2018 Obesity and Mental Health Jane Collingwood The world population is becoming rounder, and each year the situation is worsening. The World Health Organization (WHO) believes that we are in the grip of a global epidemic, and it is estimated by the year 2020 obesity will be the single biggest killer on the planet.
October 2018 World Obesity Day: 5 things to know about weight stigma James Nobles (@JNHealth) Weight stigma is a social devaluation of people with overweight and obesity. Their weight, shape and size doesn’t comply with the dominant and enforced social norms. It can be viewed on a continuum: weight stigma (for example, assuming people with obesity lack willpower) leads to bias (treating people with obesity differently to others), which in turn creates discrimination (such as removing access to healthcare based upon a person’s weight).
September 2018 Revolve Apologizes for 'Offensive' Promotion of 'Being Fat Is Not Beautiful' Sweatshirt. Revolve issued an official apology for selling a seemingly fat-shaming sweatshirt Kaitlyn Frey Revolve issued an official apology for carrying a seemingly fat-shaming LPA sweatshirt that read “BEING FAT IS NOT BEAUTIFUL IT’S AN EXCUSE” and caused an uproar among customers. The sweatshirt, which was supposed to be part of an empowering campaign by retailer LPA and Lena Dunham focused on taking a stance against cyber-bullying, was seen first featured on Revolve’s site on a a sample-size model, sparking outrage. In a statement shared on the fashion retailer’s Instagram account, the brand said, “We messed up big. We are SO SORRY for hurting and offending you.” “The LPA x Lena collection was a project that we stood behind and believed in. The product released on our site was part of a collaboration intended to shine a light on the darkness of the internet, by printing real-life, damaging comments that have been left on the social media feeds of women everywhere,” the statement read.
August 2018 Opinion: We’re in a new age of obesity. How did it happen? You’d be surprised George Monbiot When I saw the photograph I could scarcely believe it was the same country. A picture of Brighton beach in 1976, featured in the Guardian a few weeks ago, appeared to show an alien race. Almost everyone was slim. I mentioned it on social media, then went on holiday. When I returned, I found that people were still debating it. The heated discussion prompted me to read more. How have we grown so fat, so fast? To my astonishment, almost every explanation proposed in the thread turned out to be untrue.
July 2018 Feeding My Fat Body, Feeding My Soul There is nothing neutral about the act of eating when you’re fat. Shannon Ashley Sometimes I want to scream, but I wonder if anyone could ever hear it beneath all these layers of fat. I think about how in a perfect world I would not worry about money the way I do today, the way I do lately. And I wouldn’t worry about the basics of life like shelter, friendship, and oh yeah--food. On the hierarchy of all addiction, battling food is so utterly unsexy. Not that a heroin or cocaine addiction is supposed to win you lovers, but let’s get real--people are often drawn to the tortured artist, dark and broody soul. As long as they’re you know, conventionally attractive.
July 2018 There Is No Safe Place For This Fat Body Not even here with me. Shannon Ashley The Big Fat Joke. Perhaps the most ironic thing about the Fat Joke poem is the fact that so many people miss the point. And I’ve seen the video posted on Facebook enough to know that the positive comments rarely beat out the negative ones. Of course, the point is that when you’re fat, far too many people only see your fat. You go to the doctor for anything, and they tell you how losing weight will help. Weight loss is always the answer. Even when it's not.
May 2018 ‘OK, I’m fat - and this is how it feels’ #1 Feeling good about your body isn't always easy when you are overweight. While some people are "reclaiming" the word "fat" as a positive thing -three of them are featured in the video, below - Mellisa says she recognises that the word applies to her, and wishes it didn't. When I stand up to do a presentation at work, I'm all too aware that people see my size first, not me. Quite literally, I am the elephant in the room. I always start my talk by saying: "You know, my job is so stressful - when I started about a week ago I was a size 12 and look at me now!”. Read also: ‘OK, I’m fat - and this is how it feels’ #2
May 2018 10 Leading Causes of Weight Gain and Obesity Kris Gunnars Obesity is one of the biggest health problems in the world. It’s associated with several related conditions, collectively known as metabolic syndrome. These include high blood pressure, elevated blood sugar and a poor blood lipid profile. People with metabolic syndrome are at a much higher risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes, compared to those whose weight is in a normal range.
April 2018 It’s not fine to be fat. Celebrating obesity is irresponsible Lizzie Cernik No one should be bullied for their weight or food choices, but ‘fat pride’ promotes dangerous weight levels. Body positivity began as a powerful antidote to the media’s obsession with skeletal models and beachball-breasted glamour girls. Empowering women of non-Barbie proportions to feel good about themselves, the movement has attacked impossible beauty ideals that confront us in advertising, branding and beyond, criticising everything from the thigh gap trend to green juice cleanses.
March 2018 Weight stigma and discrimination: a call to the media Stuart W Flint, James Nobles, Paul Gately, Pinki Sahota During 2017, a substantial number of media articles were published in the UK and elsewhere that stigmatise and discriminate against people with overweight and obesity. Such articles can be read by millions of people, in print and online. Given that weight stigma attitudes predict discriminatory behaviours,1 the role of the media is deeply concerning. For the direct and indirect targets of weight stigma, such attitudes can have profound effects on their physical and mental health.
March 2018 Cancer Research toned down obesity campaign after 'fat-shaming' backlash Henry Bodkin & Helena Horton Cancer Research UK (CRUK) has said it toned down a major campaign warning of the dangers of obesity to avoid scaring overweight people, but has hit back at critics accusing the organisation of “fat-shaming”. In a pilot scheme launched in London and the West Midlands last year, the charity posted advertisements on billboards stating “obesity causes cancer”.
Report 2018 How and why weight stigma drives the obesity ‘epidemic’ and harms health A. Janet Tomiyama, Deborah Carr , Ellen M. Granberg, Brenda Major, Eric Robinson, Angelina R. Sutin and Alexandra Brewis Background: In an era when obesity prevalence is high throughout much of the world, there is a correspondingly pervasive and strong culture of weight stigma. For example, representative studies show that some forms of weight discrimination are more prevalent even than discrimination based on race or ethnicity.
Report 2018 Taking action on childhood obesity report World Health Organization Childhood obesity is one of the most serious global public health challenges of the 21st century, affecting every country in the world. In just 40 years the number of school-age children and adolescents with obesity has risen more than 10-fold, from 11 million to 124 million (2016 estimates). In addition, an estimated 216 million were classified as overweight but not obese in 2016. The condition also affects younger children, with over 38 million children aged under 5 living with overweight or obesity in 2017.
October 2017 Child and teen obesity spreading across the globe Michelle Roberts Health editor, BBC News online Child and teenage obesity levels have risen ten-fold in the last four decades, meaning 124m boys and girls around the globe are too fat, according to new research. The analysis in the Lancet is the largest of its kind and looks at obesity trends in over 200 countries. In the UK, one in every 10 young people aged five to 19, is obese. Obese children are likely to become obese adults, putting them at risk of serious health problems, say experts.
August 2017 Demoted or dismissed because of your weight? The reality of the size ceiling Renate van der Zee Overweight people are less likely to be hired, are lower paid, have fewer opportunities and are often outright bullied in the workplace. And, as these stories and studies reveal, women bear the brunt of the discrimination
August 2017 Demoted or dismissed because of your weight? The reality of the size ceiling Renate van der Zee About 15 years ago, Sue McElroy, a psychiatrist in Mason, Ohio, started noticing a pattern. People came to see her because they were depressed, but they frequently had a more visible ailment as well: They were very overweight.
July 2017 Health Effects of Overweight and Obesity in 195 Countries over 25 Years In 2015, a total of 107.7 million children and 603.7 million adults were obese. Since 1980, the prevalence of obesity has doubled in more than 70 countries and has continuously increased in most other countries. Although the prevalence of obesity among children has been lower than that among adults, the rate of increase in childhood obesity in many countries has been greater than the rate of increase in adult obesity. High BMI accounted for 4.0 million deaths globally, nearly 40% of which occurred in persons who were not obese. More than two thirds of deaths related to high BMI were due to cardiovascular disease. The disease burden related to high BMI has increased since 1990; however, the rate of this increase has been attenuated owing to decreases in underlying rates of death from cardiovascular disease.
June 2017 Global Obesity Epidemic: New Studies Show How Big A Problem It's Become Bruce Y. Lee The human population is in desperate need of an intervention. By intervention, I mean the kind organized by your friends when you don't realize how bad your problem has gotten and need to be confronted about it. The problem with the current problem is humans don't have such real friends to provide this slap in the face. Dumping toxic waste and pollution on polar bears, dolphins, elephants, pandas, and other animals has alienated them. Neither Mars nor Venus are any help. Viruses and bacteria are too shifty to be trusted. And our smartphones are waiting for the day to take over everything. So humans need to stop being in that river in Egypt, denial, and finally take real action about the global obesity epidemic. Otherwise, this catastrophe in slow motion will take us up a creek without the ability to even float.
June 2017 Tipping the scale: Beijing leads in obesity rate Liu Dong The obesity rate in northern China is significantly higher than that of southern China, with Beijing topping the scale, according to a recent report issued by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The research team defined "overweight" adults as those with a body mass index (BMI) between 25 and 30, and "obese" adults as those with a BMI of 30 or more. The data showed that the obesity rate in Beijing was 25.9 percent, while the average national obesity rate was 11.9 percent. Hebei ranked the second with 22.2 percent, and Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region ranked the third with 21.5 percent.
2016
October 2016 The One Thing To Do To Stop The Obesity Epidemic Bruce Y. Lee I am frequently asked, “What is the one thing that can be done to stop the global obesity epidemic?” My answer: the one thing everyone can do is stop asking that question. There is not one thing that caused the obesity epidemic. This is like asking, "What is the one thing that you can do to stop pollution, poverty, malaria or people posting cat videos on the Internet?"
October 2016 The Shame of Fat Shaming Gina Kolata It is not easy to be fat in America, even though more than a third of adults are obese. The problems with fat shaming start early. Rebecca Puhl, the deputy director of the University of Connecticut’s Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity, and her colleagues find that weight is the most common reason children are bullied in school. In one study, nearly 85 percent of adolescents reported seeing overweight classmates teased in gym class.
August 2016 Obesity: the real pandemic of the 21st century José Ángel Córdova Villalobos Two types of dramatic transitions are currently taking place in Mexico: demographic and epidemiological. Demographics show us that even though Mexico has a young population, the population pyramid is tending towards a progressively narrower base. Today there are a greater number of children aged 5 to 9 years than there are from 0 to 4, and more children aged 10 to 14 than 5 to 9 years. The widest point of the pyramid is currently that of 10-15 year olds. Since fertility rates have dropped, the number of births has also dropped and the largest population groups will progressively become older. In 2050 one out of every four Mexicans will be 65 or older. These epidemiological and demographic transitions in our country are happening rapidly and are profound. Within a period of 50 years Mexico will complete an ageing process which took Europe 200 years to complete.
July 2016 Seven Misconceptions About The Global Obesity Epidemic Bruce Y. Lee If you have not realized by now, we are in the midst of a global obesity epidemic. (In other news, in case you've been living in a cave since the 1980s, we also now have something called the Internet, people can read things on their phones and Ghostbusters is no longer in the theaters...well, maybe not everything has changed). While the worldwide numbers have clearly shown that obesity and overweight rates have risen worldwide since the decade of big hair, video arcades and Slice, there are still a number of misconceptions about the global obesity epidemic. To help you people get a better view of what's happening globally, our Global Obesity Prevention Center (GOPC) assembled worldwide data on obesity and overweight rates, diabetes, food security, income, and other relevant data from sources such as the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), UNICEF, the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Bank, and key research studies and placed it on the web as a country ranking tool. (Sheryl Siegmund, our GOPC Manager and Sarah Rebbert, our GOPC Communications Specialist were instrumental in helping pull this together.)
July 2016 The relationship between weight stigma and eating behavior is explained by weight bias internalization and psychological distress Kerry S.O’Briena, Janet D.Latnerb. Rebecca M.Puhlc, Lenny R.Vartaniand. ClaudiaGiles, aKonstadinaGrivae, AdrianCartera Weight stigma is associated with a range of negative outcomes, including disordered eating, but the psychological mechanisms underlying these associations are not well understood. The present study tested whether the association between weight stigma experiences and disordered eating behaviors (emotional eating, uncontrolled eating, and loss-of-control eating) are mediated by weight bias internalization and psychological distress.
June 2016 Tell Me I’m Fat The way people talk about being fat is shifting. With one-third of Americans classified as overweight, and another third as obese, and almost none of us losing weight and keeping it off, maybe it’s time to rethink the way we see being fat. A show inspired by Lindy West’s book Shrill.
June 2016 Fat Shaming Starts Early As Evidenced By 'Stuff Curry' Bruce Y. Lee Social media has allowed what seems to be an epidemic of fat shaming. Fat-shaming, in essence, is scolding, criticizing or embarrassing people for being overweight. Now you can troll the Internet and find a picture of a person (whether it is someone you know or even a stranger) and then tell that person how fat he or she is. This is a great way to make you feel better...rather than actually improve your own life.
June 2016 Publically Misfitting: Extreme Weight and the Everyday Production and Reinforcement of Felt Stigma Alexandra Brewis Sarah Trainer SeungYong Han Amber Wutich Living with extreme weight in the United States is associated with discrimination and self‐stigma, creating structural exclusions, embodied stress, and undermining health and wellbeing. Here we combine ethnographic interviews and surveys from those with experiences of living with extreme weight to better explain how this vulnerability is created and reinforced by public cues, both physical (e.g., seatbelts) and social (the reactions of strangers). “Misfitting” is a major theme in interviews, as is the need to plan and scan constantly while navigating too‐small public spaces.
April 2016 More Evidence That Obesity Is A Global Catastrophe In Slow Motion Bruce Y. Lee Sometimes it is harder to see things that move in slow motion. Perhaps if the global obesity epidemic moved any faster, it would garner an emergency response similar to Ebola, Zika and other infectious disease epidemics that have gripped the world in recent years. As two recent studies published in The Lancet and authored by the Non-Communicable Disease (NCD) Risk Factor Collaboration have re-emphasized, the sheer magnitude of the global obesity epidemic dwarfs those of most other epidemics.
March 2016 Obesity Discrimination in the Recruitment Process: “You’re Not Hired!” Stuart W. Flint, Martin Čadek, Sonia C. Codreanu, Vanja Ivić, Colene Zomer and Amalia Gomoiu Previous literature reports that obese persons are discriminated in the workplace. Evidence suggests that obese people are perceived as having less leadership potential, and in comparison to normal weight peers, are expected to be less successful. This study examined whether obese people are discriminated against when applying for employment.
January 2016 We need a whole systems approach to tackle obesity Dr Bruce Y. Lee Obesity has become a truly global problem. No longer is obesity simply a high-income country or adult problem. All ages and nearly all countries are at risk. Today, obesity is starting earlier and earlier in childhood, making the far-reaching psychological, behavioural, social, economic and health effects all the more substantial. Although many solutions have been offered and tried during the past three decades, none seem to be reversing this global epidemic. In fact, with each passing year, the epidemic continues to spread worldwide, with no clear change in sight. Obviously we need new approaches and strategies.
January 2016 The Crushing Depression of Morbid Obesity People who are morbidly obese are four to six times more likely to be depressed than people of average size. Paul Willis If you've ever seen the MTV show Catfish, you know the idea is to reveal all the ways people are duped online. Past episodes have exposed women posing as men, fraudsters claiming to be recording artists, and a girl pretending to be a former Miss Teen USA to impress her high school crush. But one of the weirdest episodes involved a girl from Michigan who wanted to know why her long-time online confidante Matt Lowe refused to ever meet her in real life. As it turned out, Lowe – a 29-year-old from Vancouver, Washington – was everything he claimed to be, with one significant omission.
2015
December 2015 Is Obesity a Mental Health Issue? Joel L. Young M.D. When Your Adult Child Breaks Your Heart. Understanding the mind/body connection. Obesity may be the largest health epidemic to ever sweep the nation. More than two-thirds (69%) of Americans are classified as either overweight or obese, where obesity is defined as a BMI in excess of 30 and overweight is defined as a BMI that exceeds 25. People with BMIs in excess of 40 are classified as extremely obese, putting them at the greatest risk of a host of health issues.
November 2015 Interview: ‘We need people to get angry about sugar’ says leading cardiologist Mary O’Hara Aseem Malhotra, founder of Action on Sugar, says only public pressure will make the government take action on obesity. Aseem Malhotra is a man on mission. As a campaigner and founding member of the organisation Action on Sugar, set up two years ago by a group of doctors and researchers to publicise the harmful effects of junk food and a high-sugar diet, the 38-year-old cardiologist has certainly been making waves. One of the things I’ve been trying to do is raise awareness through getting messages into the mainstream media which I know has an impact on the public, he says of his approach.
August 2015 Coca-Cola Funds Scientists Who Shift Blame for Obesity Away From Bad Diets Anahad O’Connor Coca-Cola, the world’s largest producer of sugary beverages, is backing a new “science-based” solution to the obesity crisis: To maintain a healthy weight, get more exercise and worry less about cutting calories. The beverage giant has teamed up with influential scientists who are advancing this message in medical journals, at conferences and through social media. To help the scientists get the word out, Coke has provided financial and logistical support to a new nonprofit organization called the Global Energy Balance Network, which promotes the argument that weight-conscious Americans are overly fixated on how much they eat and drink while not paying enough attention to exercise.
July 2015 What is the Solution to Obesity? James Fell Dystopian futures have obesity figured out. In the science-fiction big-gubmint hyper-controlled libertarian-nightmare future we’re all implanted with activity monitors and receive painful electric shocks if we don’t meet our daily exercise requirements, and all our calories are carefully allocated based on our specific metabolic and health needs. But freedom tho. The reason why the horrible fat shaming game show The Biggest Loser works is because it’s a lot like that dystopian future. The contestants have no freedom, and they lose weight because they’re forced to via the rigid controls of a labor camp on a starvation diet. It’s no surprise that once they regain their freedom, they regain the weight.
2014
May 2014 Obesity and discrimination: The next ‘big issue’? Stuart W Flint, Jeremé Snook A concomitant increase has been observed between the prevalence of obesity and the stigmatization and discrimination of the condition. Despite reports of such negative experiences, there appears to be little deterrence for individuals to behave in a non-discriminatory fashion towards the overweight and obese.
2013
April 2013 Weight discrimination and bullying Rebecca M.PuhlPhD, Kelly M.KingMPH Despite significant attention to the medical impacts of obesity, often ignored are the negative outcomes that obese children and adults experience as a result of stigma, bias, and discrimination.
December 2011 The Fat Trap Tara Parker-Pope For 15 years, Joseph Proietto has been helping people lose weight. When these obese patients arrive at his weight-loss clinic in Australia, they are determined to slim down. And most of the time, he says, they do just that, sticking to the clinic’s program and dropping excess pounds. But then, almost without exception, the weight begins to creep back.
May 2011 Are Georgia's anti-obesity ads unfair to fat kids? David W Freeman (CBS/AP) Unfair. That's what some are calling Georgia's new anti-obesity campaign, which features images of overweight boys and girls staring somberly from billboards and online videos. "Chubby kids may not outlive their parents," reads one of the signs. Reads another, "Big bones didn't make me this way. Big meals did.”
Other links
Obesity, Shame, and Depression in School-Aged Children: A Population-Based Study Rickard L. Sjöberg, Kent W. Nilsson and Jerzy Leppert Objectives. To investigate whether there is an association between adolescent obesity and depression in a nonclinical population and whether psychosocial and economic status and subjective experiences of shame (defined as experiences of being degraded or ridiculed by others) may account for such an association.
Obesity is less common in more equal societies. Obesity is increasing rapidly throughout the developed world. In some countries rates have doubled in just a few years. In the USA, three-quarters of the population are overweight, and close to a third are obese. In the UK, two-thirds of adults are overweight and more than a fifth are obese. Obesity increases the risk of hypertension, late onset diabetes, cardiovascular disease, gallbladder disease, and some cancers. The trends in children's obesity are likely to lead to shorter life expectancies for today's children - this would be the first reversal in life expectancy since the nineteenth century.
Transforming how we view obesity– understanding how trauma is often the underlying cause. Center for Child Development “You’re too fat.” “You need to lose weight.” “You’re going to get high blood pressure and diabetes.” Anyone with a weight problem has had these statements drilled in them to the point of frustration. Overweight people know the risk factors and in most instances, want to lose weight. Sometimes the desire to lose weight is to assuage the need of others and find a place of acceptance in a world that is overly conscious of physical looks. In the American society, it’s hard to conceive that there are overweight people who are entirely comfortable with their bodies. They often struggle with the negative messages that seek to shame them for not fitting a narrowly defined mold of beauty. Achieving optimal health is important for longevity, but the way we currently go about addressing it excludes important considerations.
The outrageous price of being fat Blaz Kos Here’s a secret that not many people know nowadays. I was fat for more than half of my life. And I can tell your from my own personal experience that being fat sucks. Here is my story. I started gaining weight somewhere in kindergarten and was fat all the way up to high school. I didn’t just have a few extra pounds; I was extremely fat. Obese. Why that happened is a simple story. I was raised by my grandparents. I’m very grateful for everything they did for me, but they also belonged to the post-World War 2 generation, where an excess of food was the main sign of being well, safe and sound in life. So we all ate a lot. I do mean a lot.
Fat is the worst thing you can be.* What happens when this is how you are socialized? Fat is the worst thing you can be.* This is what I learned growing up. I've continued to hear this throughout my life. As recently as a few months ago, I was in a training where the trainer used the word fat as slur in an example she gave. When I asked her about it later, she said she used it as an example (without thinking about its effect on me), because it's the worst thing you can call someone. I was teased constantly for being fat. At school by classmates. At home by my little brother. As a kid, I often came home from school to cry alone in my room where no one could see me.
How much should I weigh for my height and age? Many people want to know the answer to this question: How much should I weigh? However, there is not one ideal healthy weight for each person, because a number of different factors play a role. These include age, muscle-fat ratio, height, sex, and body fat distribution, or body shape. Having excess weight can affect a person’s risk of developing a number of health conditions, including obesity, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and cardiovascular problems. Not everyone who carries extra weight develops health problems. However, researchers believe that while these extra pounds might not currently impact a person’ s health, a lack of management could lead to problems in the future. Read on to find out about four ways of working out your ideal weight. Weight and height guide chart. The following weight and height chart uses BMI tables from the National Institute of Health to determine how much a person’s weight should be for their height.
WHO: Heath Topic Overweight and obesity are defined as abnormal or excessive fat accumulation that presents a risk to health. A crude population measure of obesity is the body mass index (BMI), a person’s weight (in kilograms) divided by the square of his or her height (in metres). A person with a BMI of 30 or more is generally considered obese. A person with a BMI equal to or more than 25 is considered overweight. Overweight and obesity are major risk factors for a number of chronic diseases, including diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and cancer. Once considered a problem only in high income countries, overweight and obesity are now dramatically on the rise in low- and middle-income countries, particularly in urban settings.
Data via Wikipedia Obesity in The Middle East and North Africa Obesity in North Africa and the Middle East is a notable health issue. In 2005, the World Health Organization measured that 1.6 billion people were overweight and 400 million were obese. It estimates that by the year 2015, 2.3 billion people will be overweight and 700 million will be obese.[1] The Middle East, including the Arabian Peninsula, Eastern Mediterranean, Turkey and Iran, and North Africa, are no exception to the worldwide increase in obesity. Subsequently, some call this trend the New World Syndrome.[2] The lifestyle changes associated with the discovery of oil and the subsequent increase in wealth is one contributing factor. Urbanization has occurred rapidly and has been accompanied by new technologies that promote sedentary lifestyles.[3] Due to accessibility of private cars, television, and household appliances, the population as a whole is engaging in less physical activity. The rise in caloric and fat intake in a region where exercise is not a defining part of the culture has added to the overall increased percentages of overweight and obese populations.[4] In addition, women are more likely to be overweight or obese due to cultural norms and perceptions of appropriate female behavior and occupations inside and outside of the home.[5]
Obesity in China Obesity in China is a major health concern according to the WHO, with overall rates of obesity between 5% and 6% for the country,[2] but greater than 20% in some cities where fast food is popular.[3] This is a dramatic change from times when China experienced famine as a result from ineffective agriculture plans such as the Great Leap Forward.[4]
Obesity in India Obesity in India has reached epidemic proportions in the 21st century, with morbid obesity affecting 5% of the country's population.[1] India is following a trend of other developing countries that are steadily becoming more obese. Unhealthy, processed food has become much more accessible following India's continued integration in global food markets. This, combined with rising middle class incomes, is increasing the average caloric intake per individual among middle class and high income households.[2] Obesity is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease, NGOs such as the Indian Heart Association have been raising awareness about this issue.[3]
Does depression cause obesity? A meta-analysis of longitudinal studies of depression and weight control. To evaluate the causal effects of depression on obesity, longitudinal tests of the effect of depression on follow-up obesity status were meta-analyzed. Combining data from 16 studies the results confirmed that, after controlling for potential confounding variables, depressed compared to nondepressed people were at significantly higher risk for developing obesity. The risk among depressed people for later obesity was particularly high for adolescent females (odds ratio: 2.57, 95% CI: 2.27, 2.91). These findings highlight the importance of depression screening and treatment programs, especially among adolescents, to assist in the prevention of adult obesity.
Childhood Obesity Facts Prevalence of Childhood Obesity in the United States Childhood obesity is a serious problem in the United States putting children and adolescents at risk for poor health. Obesity prevalence among children and adolescents is still too high. For children and adolescents aged 2-19 years:
– The prevalence of obesity was 18.5% and affected about 13.7 million children and adolescents.
– Obesity prevalence was 13.9% among 2- to 5-year-olds, 18.4% among 6- to 11-year-olds, and 20.6% among 12- to 19-year-olds. Childhood obesity is also more common among certain populations.
– Hispanics (25.8%) and non-Hispanic blacks (22.0%) had higher obesity prevalence than non-Hispanic whites (14.1%).
– Non-Hispanic Asians (11.0%) had lower obesity prevalence than non-Hispanic blacks and Hispanics.
Current Status and Response to the Global Obesity Pandemic Proceedings of a Workshop—in Brief (2019) Contributors: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine; Health and Medicine Division; Food and Nutrition Board; Roundtable on Obesity Solutions; Emily A. Callahan, Rapporteur On October 9, 2018 the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine held a public workshop titled “Current Status and Response to the Global Obesity Pandemic” in Washington, DC. The workshop examined the status of the global obesity pandemic and explored approaches used to manage the problem in different settings around the world. This Proceedings of a Workshop–in Brief highlights presentations which discussed the importance of understanding the obesity epidemic in global context and shared perspectives on the implications of obesity as a global problem for prevention and treatment efforts in the United States, with an emphasis on reducing disparities
