Disturbing New Study About Obesity And Weight

Study Shows Some Americans Would Choose Divorce, Depression and
Alcoholism Over Obesity

May 23, 2006 -- What would you be willing to sacrifice if it
ensured you would never be fat?

Would you give up a year of your life? Or 10 years?

Would you rather be divorced, unable to have children,
depressed, alcoholic?

A disturbing new study out of Yale University's Rudd Center for
Food Policy and Obesity found that nearly half -- 46 percent --
of 4,283 participants would rather give up a year of their life
than be obese. Fifteen percent were willing to give up 10 years.


In fact, a surprisingly large number of participants were
willing to make extreme sacrifices if they could be sure they
would never be obese.

These are hypothetical questions, of course, and the answers
are not set in stone. Obesity is a killer, so some participants
probably figured that they were going to die earlier anyway if
they were obese, but what surprised the researchers was the
number of people who were willing to make extreme sacrifices.

"The percentages of people willing to make extreme sacrifices
were much lower," said psychologist Marlene Schwartz, associate
director of the center and lead author in a report in the
journal Obesity. "But what struck me was given how big our
sample size was, there's still a significant number of people
who would give up a lot in order not to be obese."

More than 600 persons, for example, were willing to give up 10
years of their life. And, 342 said they would rather have a
learning-disabled child than an obese child.

The findings show the enormous stigma placed on being fat, and
that, Schwartz says, is one of the major reasons why some
people just can't take it off.

One part of the online study examined subconscious attitudes
toward obesity and found that across the board, regardless of
age or body weight of the participants, "individuals more
strongly associated fat people with bad and thin people with
good," the report said.

Fat people are seen as lazy and unwilling to try hard enough to
lose weight.

That, Schwartz says, is a big part of the problem. Even
overweight participants in the study thought poorly of
themselves, and once that level of self-condemnation is
reached, it becomes nearly impossible to lose weight.

"Children are constantly given the message, 'You're fat because
you're lazy,' " Schwartz said, 'and you're not trying hard
enough.' That child is going to internalize that message. And
once somebody believes that about themselves, it's going to get
harder rather than easier for them to do the hard work that it
takes to really fight obesity and be healthy."

It's not that all those fat people out there aren't trying.

"I think people do try, but it's extremely difficult to lose
weight and keep it off," she said.

Obesity, of course, can have many causes. Medical conditions,
genetics and lifestyle all play a part, but researchers contend
that in many cases the remedy may be beyond the victim's reach.

"Part of the problem is we view obesity as something that's
under the person's control, and we blame the individual for
having the problem," she said. "But I think people overestimate
how much control we have over our body's shape and weight.
Therefore when someone is fat, we immediately assume they don't
care enough to try to lose weight. They are to blame for being
overweight."

Of course, sometimes that's true, and sometimes it's not.

In our current environment, she notes, it's particularly
difficult to keep those extra pounds off. Junk food is
everywhere, urban sprawl forces us to drive instead of walk,
diets fail, and we get discouraged. So we settle down to watch
a ball game on television, surrounded by comfort food.

It's enough to make a body give up, and that, Schwartz says, is
exactly what is happening. That doesn't mean there's nothing
that can help. Lifestyle changes make a difference, she says,
and if people can take steps to become more physically active,
and more careful about what they eat, then some of those pounds
can probably come off.

First, she insists, we've got to change our attitudes about
obesity.

"For there to be a change, we have to stop blaming the
individual," Schwartz said. "We've been blaming people for a
long time and it's not working. So we need to do something
else, and what I would suggest is focus on the environment,
clean up the environment and make it so that every time you
turn around there's a healthy food option and it's hard to find
junk food. Change our environment so that it's easy to walk and
it's easy to get physical activity in your everyday life."

"I just don't think yelling more at people is going to get us
anywhere," she said.

Given prevailing attitudes about being overweight, though,
change is not likely to come quickly or easily.

The study, also by Lenny R. Vartanian and Kelly D. Brownell of
Yale and Brian A. Nosek of the University of Virginia, reveals
strong bias against people who are fat, and that occurs across
all ages and body shapes.

Of the 4,283 participants, 30 percent (1,285) said they would
rather be divorced than obese, 25 percent (1,070) said they
would rather be unable to have children, 15 percent (642) said
they would rather be severely depressed, and 14 percent (600)
said they would rather be alcoholic.

Most drew the line at some sacrifices, but 10 percent (428)
said they would rather have an anorexic child than an obese
child, and 8 percent (342) said they would rather have a
learning-disabled child than an obese child.

That level of stigmatism drives some toward depression, which
can lead to eating disorders, which only worsens the problem.

Copyright 2006 OurFamilysHealth.com


About The Author: Wayne McDonald is an advocate of safe natural
treatments for weight release and weight loss. Get Your '7
Secrets to Look 10 Pounds Lighter' Report FREE at
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