What's in a Name? The Effects of the Labels “Fat” Versus “Overweight” on Weight Bias1

Brochu, Paula M.; Esses, Victoria M.

doi:10.1111/j.1559-1816.2011.00786.x

Cited by 69 publications

(64 citation statements)

References 42 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…For example, the term 'obese' may be perceived as confusing or emotionally charged for some individuals, 23,24 but may motivate weight loss for others. 23 The term 'fat' may be perceived as pejorative and derogatory for some individuals, 25,26 but in certain cases attitudes toward 'fat people' have been found to invoke more favor and less disgust than 'obese people', 27 and certain groups of individuals (for example, members of the Fat Acceptance movement) may publicly embrace this term. 28,29 Thus, weight-related language can invoke different interpretations and individual preferences, and this needs to be better understood especially in the context of health care where patient-provider discussions about weight are routine.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Motivating or stigmatizing? Public perceptions of weight-related language used by health providers

2012

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

BACKGROUND:Research demonstrates that health providers express negative attitudes toward overweight and obese patients that can be conveyed through weight-related language, yet little is known about people's perceptions of weight-related language used by providers. The current study examined public preferences and perceptions of weight-based terminology used by health-care providers to describe excess weight. METHOD: A national sample of American adults (N ¼ 1064) completed an online survey to assess perceptions and preferences associated with 10 common terms to describe body weight. Participants rated how much they perceived each term to be desirable, stigmatizing, blaming or motivating to lose weight (using five-point Likert scales), and how they would react if stigmatized by their doctor's reference to their weight. RESULTS: The terms 'weight' (3.43, 95% confidence interval (CI) 3.35-3.50) and 'unhealthy weight' (3.24, 95% CI 3.15-3.33) were rated most desirable, and the terms 'unhealthy weight' (3.77, 95% CI 3.69-3.84) and 'overweight' (3.51, 95% CI 3.43-3.58) were rated most motivating to lose weight. The terms 'morbidly obese', 'fat' and 'obese' were rated as the most undesirable (95% CI 1.61-2.06), stigmatizing (95% CI 3.66-4.05) and blaming (95% CI 3.62-3.94) language used by health providers. Notably, participant ratings were consistent across socio-demographic variables and body weight categories. A total of 19% of participants reported they would avoid future medical appointments and 21% would seek a new doctor if they felt stigmatized about their weight from their doctor. CONCLUSION: This study advances our understanding of why individuals prefer particular weight-related terms, and how patients may react if their provider uses stigmatizing language to refer to their weight. It also offers suggestions for practical strategies that providers can use to improve discussions about weight-related health with patients.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Motivating or stigmatizing? Public perceptions of weight-related language used by health providers

2012

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In their model, they focus on three main psychological coping strategies. The first is attributing negative events to unfair discrimination, which is likely difficult for overweight individuals because weight bias can be more socially acceptable than racism, sexism, and many other forms of bias (Brochu & Esses, 2011;Crandall, Eshleman, & O'Brien, 2002). In fact, Crocker, Cornwell, and Major (1993) provided evidence that overweight individuals do not attribute negative feedback to discrimination.…”

Section: Fighting Against the Cyclementioning

confidence: 97%

“…Indeed, weight stigma has even been described as the last "acceptable" form of bias (Puhl & Brownell, 2001). Overweight individuals are negatively stereotyped, and commonly perceived as lazy, lacking in willpower and control, and unattractive (Brochu & Esses, 2011). Only severe obesity is protected, and only in some cases, by legislation, and so it is not illegal or unlawful for overweight or moderately obese individuals to be denied services or opportunities on the basis of their weight Puhl, Heuer, & Sarda, 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Weight stigma is stressful. A review of evidence for the Cyclic Obesity/Weight-Based Stigma model

2014

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A B S T R A C TWeight stigma is highly pervasive, but its consequences are understudied. This review draws from theory in social psychology, health psychology, and neuroendocrinology to construct an original, generative model called the cyclic obesity/weight-based stigma (COBWEBS) model. This model characterizes weight stigma as a "vicious cycle" -a positive feedback loop wherein weight stigma begets weight gain. This happens through increased eating behavior and increased cortisol secretion governed by behavioral, emotional, and physiological mechanisms, which are theorized to ultimately result in weight gain and difficulty of weight loss. The purpose of this review is to evaluate the existing literature for evidence supporting such a model, propose ways in which individuals enter, fight against, and exit the cycle, and conclude by outlining fruitful future directions in this nascent yet important area of research.

show abstract

“…Vartanian (2010b) found the word obese to evoke greater negative evaluations than fat. However, a study by Brochu and Esses (2011) indicated that the term fat sparks more negativity than overweight. The words obesity, bariatric and overweight are biomedical terms that are currently the most preferred in medical discourses.…”

Section: Weight Stigmamentioning

confidence: 99%

Weight stigma in health: (re)thinking weight in a physiotherapy context

Setchell¹

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The physiotherapy profession increasingly considers weight management to be part of its scope of practice. Ostensibly this may seem like a good idea: popular media and biomedical discourses highlight a global "obesity epidemic", and physiotherapists, considered "experts in movement", may be well placed to help address obesity by encouraging activity. On the other hand, an excessive focus on weight can have negative consequences. A large body of research now highlights negative attitudes towards those who are overweight (weight stigma) among health professionals, including doctors, nurses, dieticians, psychologists and exercise scientists. Yet, despite the size and impact of the profession, there has been little work exploring weight stigma in the context of physiotherapy.My aims are two-fold. First, I investigate weight-related interactions in physiotherapy, and second, I investigate how weight might be (re)thought in this context. The first three thesis chapters provide a theoretical exploration of concepts relevant to weight in physiotherapy. In the introductory chapter I argue that it is helpful to draw from scholarship in critical psychology and the emerging field of critical physiotherapy. In Chapter 2 I consider traditional social psychological theories that provide a social and embodied understanding of weight stigma. However, I outline how these theories are notably apolitical, acultural, ahistorical and lack mechanisms for understanding power in stigma. To address this issue, I introduce post-structuralist perspectives (particularly those of Michel Foucault) that are often used in critical social science. Using a poststructural psychological lens, I critically examine the literature on weight and its associated stigma.As context specific understandings are desirable, I use Chapter 3 to examine the nature of the physiotherapy profession, to determine what might be relevant to "thinking weight" and considerations of stigma. Here I look in depth at this profession, discussing where power, the body, reflexivity and the profession's ontological underpinnings might be relevant to weight-related physiotherapy interactions.In Chapter 4 I outline the empirical approaches I took to further address the aims of the thesis, and discuss their underlying assumptions. Following this, in Chapters 5 to 7 I present three empirical studies, each of which is published in peer-reviewed journals (or under review). In a previous study (described in Chapter 3) I tested weight stigma in physiotherapists using attitude tests in an online survey. I found that participating physiotherapists held explicit and implicit weight stigmatising attitudes similar to those in related professions. Building on this earlier work, Iconducted an inductive thematic analysis of interviews with patients who had experienced weightrelated interactions with physiotherapists (described in Chapter 5). Participants spoke of perceiving weight stigma in a number of elements of physiotherapy interactions, elements of the physiotherapy environment and...

show abstract

What's in a Name? The Effects of the Labels “Fat” Versus “Overweight” on Weight Bias1

Cited by 69 publications

References 42 publications

Motivating or stigmatizing? Public perceptions of weight-related language used by health providers

Motivating or stigmatizing? Public perceptions of weight-related language used by health providers

Weight stigma is stressful. A review of evidence for the Cyclic Obesity/Weight-Based Stigma model

Weight stigma in health: (re)thinking weight in a physiotherapy context

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About