Fat-shaming persists in UK as one in three blame obese for their condition

ONE in three adults blame obese people for causing their own problems, according to new research.

And they are less likely to believe obesity has a medical explanation, suggests the study.

Researchers found that while “fat-shaming” attitudes are declining in the United States, in Britain people have remained largely unchanged in their views.

Two surveys involving more than 6,000 British and Americans adults show how harsh attitudes towards obesity can be in the UK.

The report, which was presented at The European and International Congress on Obesity, found explicit weight-shaming was more common in the UK compared to eight other countries in the US.

Ted Kyle, of Conscienhealth, an advocacy group based in the US, said: “Weight bias causes both physical and psychological harm to people with obesity.

“It is an important barrier to progress in reducing its health impact. While attitudes appear to be improving in the US our study finds that blaming people for their weight is still commonplace in both countries.”

Adults were asked to complete anonymous online Google surveys in November 2017 and May 2020 on the causes of obesity.

Participants were asked to give their opinion to different statements, such as whether fat people are to blame for their own obesity.

The analyses found a significant increase in the proportion of US survey respondents agreeing that obesity is a problem because people are blamed for the condition instead of receiving the medical help they need.

This rose from 30 per cent in 2017 to 42% in 2002.

But among UK residents, the statement remained unchanged at 31% in both 2017 and 2020.

The proportion of US respondents who believe that obesity is the fault of the person with the condition fell from 31% in 2017 to one in four in 2020.

However, there was little change in attitude among UK respondents, with 34% in 2017 and 30% in 2002.

Joe Nadglowski, from the Obesity Action Coalition in the US, added: “If someone has excess weight, there may be numerous factors at work, meaning it’s not due to poor discipline or willpower.

“We’d like to see public policy experts, health professionals, and the media look at these findings, step back and work on ways to challenge and change public perception of obesity.

“Maybe that’s through public education campaigns or strong policies to prevent weight-based discrimination.”

The authors noted the primary limitation of their study is it measures self-reported explicit bias, and not the implicit attitudes that people might not express.

Obesity is a very common health problem in the UK and is thought to affect approximately one in four adults.