Weight Bias in the Media: A Review of Recent Research

Abstract

Background: There is ample evidence that overweight and obese individuals are stigmatized in various forms of media. This weight bias is particularly disconcerting when it targets children and adolescents. Objective: The current review surveys the most recent 15 years of research on weight bias and stigmatization in the media and discusses some theoretical models that might help explain the negative effects of such material. Method: PsycINFO searches were conducted using weight bias- and stigmatization-related terms and phrases. Results were limited to journal articles published in English between 1994 and 2009. Results: Overall, the data indicate that a wide range of media – from television shows to books, newspapers, and the internet – portray over-weight and obese individuals in a stigmatizing manner. Conclusion: More research on this topic is needed to dis-cern a direct connection between exposure to such ma-terial and psychological or physical harm to the viewer. Additionally, virtually all of the research has been conducted in the USA; research in other countries should be a top priority. Efforts to try to educate the media to the deleterious effects of media presentations of weight bias are indicated.

Headless, Hungry, and Unhealthy: A Video Content Analysis of Obese Persons Portrayed in Online News

“…One of the most pervasive sources of weight stigmatization is the mass media (Ata & Thompson, 2010;Puhl & Heuer, 2009). Previous research has documented weight stigmatization toward obese persons in print media (Boero, 2007;Campo & Mastin, 2007;Kim & Willis, 2007;Lawrence, 2004;Malkin, Wornian, & Chrisler, 1999;Sandberg, 2007), and in popular television shows and films that frequently stigmatize obese characters (Greenberg, Eastin, Hofshire, Lachlan, & Brownell, 2003;Herbozo, Tantleff-Dunn, Gokee-Larose, & Thompson, 2004;Himes & Thompson, 2007;Stein, 2007) who are more often ridiculed and negatively stereotyped compared with their average weight or thin counterparts (Fouts & Burggraf, 1999Fouts & Vaughan, 2002;Herbozo et al, 2004;Himes & Thompson, 2007;Klein & Shiffman, 2005Robinson, Callister, & Jankoski, 2008;White, Brown, & Ginsburg, 1999).…”

Obesity in social media: a mixed methods analysis

“…Negative weight-based characterizations in the media have been consistently documented, whereby obese individuals are portrayed as unintelligent and undisciplined architects of their own condition [1]. Furthermore, overweight people are underrepresented in entertainment programs, but those who do appear are portrayed as unattractive, shown engaging in stereotypical eating behavior, and the target of ridicule and derision [8,10,19].…”

Enclothed Knowledge: The Fashion Show as a Method of Dissemination in Arts-Informed Research

“…In the fashion show, models have little agency: control over their appearance and presentation-from what they wear to how they move their bodies-is decided by designers, stylists and producers rather than the models themselves (MEARS, 2011). Furthermore, the media's representation of non-hegemonic people removes their personhood by depicting them through narrow stereotypes associated with their particular group (ATA & THOMPSON, 2010;GARLAND THOMSON, 1997). [24] Academic research might seem far removed from the dehumanizing practices of the fashion media and the fashion industry, but it, too, has also been critiqued for the objectification of researchers and participants.…”