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04.14.2011

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Fat Stigma: Cultural vs. Individual Obesity

Citing what is believed to be a growing global stigma linked to obesity, The New York Times recently published results from a multicountry study describing an international "spread of fat stigma." The study, authored by Dr. Alexandra Brewis, executive director of the School of Human Evolution and Social Change at Arizona State University, and colleagues, was intended to:

... give a snapshot of the international zeitgeist about weight and body image. The findings were troubling, suggesting that negative perceptions about people who are overweight may soon become the cultural norm in some countries, including places where plumper, larger bodies traditionally have been viewed as attractive, according to a new report in the journal Current Anthropology.

Of great interest, Dr. Brewis ended the article commenting:

...far more study is needed to determine the extent of fat stigma and how it is affecting the lives of individuals. She noted that her study was designed only to detect cultural views of obesity and did not show whether people were experiencing more social or workplace discrimination as a result of the growing fat stigma.

The New York Times, “Fat Stigma Spreads Around the Globe”

We find her comments of interest because insights from our latest study How America Eats: The Crucial Role of Food Culture Inside Weight Management documents just how obesity and weight management issues are affecting the lives of individuals. We find that from the consumer perspective, at least in the United States, the prevalence of stigma relating to obesity may not be as great as mentioned in the above study. In fact, obesity doesn’t appear to carry the same cultural stigma it once did, and the shame factors for weight have diminished since our last national study on obesity conducted in 2004. This fact is reflected in the increased accuracy in self-assessed weight among overweight to obese consumers who are more apt to be accurate about their BMI or weight than in 2004 (Figure 1). For many Americans, there is no great sense of urgency to lose weight because as they report to us, their social networks, on average, are heavier. Comments like “Who’s able to look like all those models anyway? They're the minority!” are in fact a common refrain and fly in the face of common cultural ideals of "skinny beauty." Americans, in other words, are becoming more pragmatic about their own reality when it comes to perceptions of what “obesity” means to them, and those close to them, in social networks.

Unlike 2004 when they were apt to assess themselves unrealistically about their own weight, in 2010 consumers across all BMI categories are assessing their own weight as being heavier.

^{Source: How America Eats 2010: The Crucial Role of Food Culture Inside Weight Management, The Hartman Group, Inc}

In observations confirmed by the Current Anthropology meta-analysis mentioned earlier, most consumers researched in How America Eats use the term “obese” to refer to others with whom they are not particularly close—so, as if in answer to the meta-analysis, perceptions of obesity are an "us" vs. "them" construct. In their own social circles, consumers in the U.S. do not typically include overweight peers and relatives as obese, in spite of their BMI scores. Instead, they base their assessments on the most extreme cases of morbid obesity, and individuals that are not a part of their intimate social network. Although Americans are impacted by societal expectations and physical ideals, ultimately, they look to their intimate networks to provide the standards used to evaluate their own bodies, often finding they are not alone: “I'm not the only one struggling to lose weight.”

Changing Social Norms for the Fat Stigma

Although the entertainment industry has typically portrayed obese people as lazy, depressed and unproductive, many consumers believe that this image is changing. Sitcoms such as Mike and Molly, films such as City Island, reality programs such as Biggest Loser and I Used to be Fat, and the success of celebrities like Jennifer Hudson, have all put a more personal face on the obesity crisis and have placed the prospect for hope in losing weight into the realm of definite possibility. So, it would seem that the fat stigma is undergoing a transformation of sorts. This is not to say that consumers do not want to control their weight, they do. But it is not health officials, celebrities, the fashion industry or fitness gurus that motivate consumers to engage in weight loss. In the end, it is consumers' social networks that serve as a reference in deciding whether it is time to manage their weight.

Despite the size of their social networks, consumers overwhelmingly believe that weight “problems” are individual problems. They rarely deny responsibility for their own weight conditions where medical explanations are not available to them. They are, however, able to attribute their own weight issues, as well as those of their fellow Americans, to a variety of cultural factors associated with the challenges of modern life. Central to our understanding of these factors is the notion that consumers suspect that it is as much about how we eat as it is about what we eat that is at the root of the obesity crisis in America: “We eat too much and too often, and aren’t active enough.”

In terms of what we eat, consumers are convinced that, overall, we consume far too many calories in the form of junk food, fast food and super-sized portions. As found in How America Eats, upon closer analysis of eating occasions, we learn that consumers eat too frequently, and that basically they are unaware of how frequently they are snacking. Consumers claim that they are so busy that occasions like eating on the road occur too often and have become too easy, in part because convenient food options are available in or near almost everywhere they work or play. In addition, busy households are eating as a family much less frequently, in favor of eating in front of the computer, video game system or TV—in essence, everywhere but at the dining room table. In other words, less and less, eating is occurring in spaces in which social forces can act to limit (over) consumption.

According to consumers, their busy lives also create stress, which in conjunction with trying to live up to so many other societal expectations contributes to excessive emotional eating (e.g., craving, indulging), which, in turn, works together to influence their eating habits. We find that just less than three in four (67%) American adults are actively trying to manage their weight (Figure 2).

^{Source: How America Eats 2010: The Crucial Role of Food Culture Inside Weight Management, The Hartman Group, Inc}

Consumers describe weight management as the process of deciding, learning, trying and doing: In the weight management process medical, social and personal triggers catapult Impulsive Eaters into action. Conflicted Eaters encounter barriers in the form of challenges and setbacks that are personal and social. No longer conflicted, Intuitive Eaters are able get back to focusing on the pleasure of eating. Having gained knowledge and internalized a unique set of rules for controlling what, when and how much they eat and drink, they typically transcend the cultural phenomenon of weight management.

The weight management process for most Americans begins when they become self-conscious of their weight. The realization that they have a problem, that their weight does not conform to societal expectations, triggers the decision to “do something about it.” As the neophyte weight manager becomes more involved in the project of self-improvement, they seek out more knowledge about weight gain, nutrition and health. This knowledge allows them to begin to formulate rules that are intended to develop a greater degree of self-discipline in their eating habits. Although inevitably plagued by setbacks and hindered by beliefs and rationalizations mired in long-standing traditions and unique individual personality traits, the determined weight manager can become empowered as he/she internalizes tried and trusted rules and strategies. This process generally rises out of some string of successes in which a positive feedback loop is created by increased self-confidence and awareness that is bolstered by social support. Armed with greater knowledge and self-discipline, the weight manager is able to make lifestyle changes that make healthy eating intuitive.

Weight Management and Obesity: Individual Journeys

Regardless of their location in the weight management journey, we find that consumers today are increasingly pragmatic about the concept of obesity, and from the individual perspective are much more likely to be realistic about their own weight, yet likely to think of others beyond their social network as "obese." A broad range of factors relating to food occasions, household eating practices and personal emotions conspire to make weight management a challenge for many individuals.

What Can You Do?

Consumers admit that they'd like food manufacturers to “make it easier to help us to help ourselves” for example, by “standardiz[ing] serving sizes so I can compare apples to apples.”
They also want retailers to be purveyors of fresh, wholesome foods and are interested in government investment in nutrition education and healthy eating programs for children.

Despite the challenges they face, the shame factor for obesity is diminishing, and individual rationales for embarking on weight management journeys continue in complex and diverse directions. Depending on where consumers are in their weight management journey, almost half (47%) are conflicted in terms of how to manage and effectively deal with factors that lead to obesity. A large part of unwinding the complexity of today’s “obesity problem” and resulting stigmas lies in acknowledging the relationship between food culture and consumer attitudes toward individual weight management practices.

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In Case You Missed It:

Obesity in America Infographic

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How America Eats Slideshow

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