Discrimination increases risk of death in overweight people

A study reveals the psychological problems associated with being discriminated against for being obese.

That obesity can cause serious health problems is not new news, but a recent study published in Psychological Science states that weight discrimination causes an increase in mortality by up to two-thirds..

The psychological effects of this discrimination, whether from teasing or rejection by others, increase the likelihood that overweight people will engage in activities that contribute to maintaining or worsening their condition, such as not exercising or eating unhealthily..

Discrimination against people who are overweight or obese causes psychological harm.

Angelina Sutin, a researcher at Florida State University College of Medicine and co-director of this study, states that. "Despite the fact that some may think that if someone feels hurt due to discrimination, they will be motivated to lose weight and seek a healthier lifestyle, this is not true.".

According to this research the opposite is true, as Sutin adds: "Our study has shown that this approach is not correct, as weight discrimination causes serious psychological problems in the person who suffers from it.".

The study data

The study was conducted by Angelina Sutin and Antonio Terracciano, and was published in Psychological Science and involved a sample of more than 18,000 subjects. The data were drawn from two longitudinal studies.

The first of these, called "The Health and Retirement Study", was initiated in 1992 at the University of Michigan with the collaboration of the National Institute on Aging (United States) and involved 13,962 participants. The other study, called "Midlife in the United States," was initiated in 1995 at the MacArthur Foundation Research Network and involved 5,070 subjects.

Conclusions of the study

After considering the Body Mass Index (BMI), subjective health status, disease burden, depressive symptoms, Smoking history, and level of physical activity, the investigators found that weight discrimination was associated with a more than 60 percent increased risk of death..

Regarding the study, Sutin concluded that. "regardless of BMI, weight discrimination causes an increased risk of mortality. This is not because of weight, but because of the consequences of discrimination.".

In previous research, Sutin and Terracciano have already shown that individuals who experience discrimination on the basis of excess body weight tend to remain obese, develop chronic health problems and have lower life satisfaction. The data from the new study warns that discrimination is one of the main reasons why people who are obese or overweight are at increased risk of death..

Obesity and Discrimination in Today's Society

Being overweight has become in a globalized world a risk factor not only for health but also for personal dignity. The culture of aesthetics has favored the association of personal success with having a "body ten". Since thinness is taken as a supreme value, pathologies associated with body image are one of the main problems that psychologists encounter on a daily basis, as they affect many individuals, especially adolescents.They affect many individuals, especially adolescents.

Eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia are growing at an alarming rate every day and, so far, little has been achieved by prevention policies to curb this phenomenon. The "collective madness" to achieve the ideal weight, makes the obese into strangers, and they constantly suffer the humiliation and discrimination of a society that has become tremendously selfish and inconsiderate..

Increasingly, the logic of advertising and the media imposes on us an unrealistic model of aesthetics and beauty. Individuals who do not fit the parameters of this aesthetic society are pushed aside and marginalized. Social Darwinism, characteristic of Western societies, causes the obese to be seen as what they are afraid of and do not want to become..

This study demonstrates the negative consequences of being rejected because of one's weight, and it should not be forgotten that the epidemic of obesity and overweight that is affecting developed societies has a social and political origin.. As much as obese individuals are blamed, we must stop seeing this problem as an individual phenomenon, in order to improve their quality of life. If we think about improving the collective welfare and not so much about the accumulation of wealth, this could be achieved.