The ‘body positivity’ movement is fuelling the obesity epidemic

I took part in a debate on Good Morning Britain recently on this topic. The normalisation of “plussize” body shapes is causing people to underestimate their weight, according to research by the University of East Anglia.

Analysis of data from almost 23,460 people who are overweight or obese shows they’re more likely to underestimate their weight and are consequently less likely to try to lose a bit of excess.

Those underestimating how much they weigh are 85% less likely to try to lose weight compared to people who know how much they weigh.

The research shows that the number of overweight people who are misperceiving their weight has increased over time, from 48.4% to 57.9% in men and 24.5% to 30.6% in women between 1997 and 2015.

Dr Raya Muttarak, the study’s lead author, said: “Seeing the huge potential of the fuller-sized fashion market, retailers may have contributed to the normalisation of being overweight and obese.

“While this type of body positive movement helps reduce stigmatisation of larger-sized bodies, it can potentially undermine the recognition of being overweight and its health consequences.

“The increase in weight misperception in England is alarming and possibly a result of this normalisation.

“Likewise, the higher prevalence of being overweight and obesity among individuals with lower levels of education and income may contribute to visual normalisation, that is, more regular visual exposure to people with excess weight than their counterparts with higher socioeconomic status have.”

She added: “To achieve effective public health intervention programmes it is therefore vital to prioritise inequalities in overweight and obesity-related risks.

“Identifying those prone to misperceiving their weight can help in designing obesity-prevention strategies targeting the specific needs of different groups.”