Obesity stigma in the news: Implications for public health

Obese people are highly stigmatized in the United States and experience inequalities within education, employment, and health care. Recent research shows that reports of weight-based discrimination are similar to reported rates of racial discrimination, particularly among women. Obese women, especially, are disproportionately affected by the negative social, economic, and health consequences of obesity stigma. The media tends to perpetuate obesity stigma and negative societal attitudes towards obese women through both written and visual content. Specifically, news reporting about obesity tends to place blame on obese persons, while photographic depictions of obese individuals are both demeaning and stigmatizing. Recent research (by the author) finds that 72% of news photographs that depict obese individuals are stigmatizing. This presentation will report on this new research, which is the first to content analyze photographs paired with news stories about obesity from five major news websites. Based on this new research, this presentation will describe evidence that demonstrates the stigmatizing nature of news photographs portraying obese women, discuss the implications of these findings for public perceptions of obese individuals, and explain how stigmatizing visual content in obesity news can adversely influence public health policy and community efforts to address obesity. Finally, this presentation will identify ways in which changes in news media portrayals of obese individuals can play an important role in rectifying health disparities and promoting equal rights and opportunities for obese women.