Members in the Media
From: NPR

Hating On Fat People Just Makes Them Fatter

NPR:

Don’t try to pretend your gibes and judgments of the overweight people in your life are for their own good. Florida researchers have evidence that discriminating against fat people only makes them fatter.

“People often rationalize that it’s OK to discriminate based on weight because it will motivate the victim to lose pounds,” Angelina Sutin, a psychologist at the Florida State College of Medicine in Tallahassee, tells Shots. “But our findings suggest the opposite.”

Sutin and a colleague checked survey data from more than 6,000 American men and women age 50 and older who were asked how often in their daily lives they experienced different types of discrimination. Examples ranged from discourtesy or refusal of restaurant service to not getting a job or promotion.

The survey then asked the respondents why they thought the discrimination happened. Was it because of their race or age, for example, or their sex, age or weight? Researchers also measured the participants’ weight and height.

Read the whole story: NPR

More of our Members in the Media >


APS regularly opens certain online articles for discussion on our website. Effective February 2021, you must be a logged-in APS member to post comments. By posting a comment, you agree to our Community Guidelines and the display of your profile information, including your name and affiliation. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations present in article comments are those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the views of APS or the article’s author. For more information, please see our Community Guidelines.

Please login with your APS account to comment.