Obesity researchers from Yale University say that online media use massively overweight people - clothing poorly adjusted negative images or eat fast food - to illustrate stories on obesity. The practice perpetuates the stigma of fat, researchers say, and may contribute to obesity itself.
For the new study, researchers watched 429 reports on obesity, with their photos accompanying published five major news Web sites. Photos illustrating people overweight or obese, the study concluded, 72% their interpreted "in the negative, stigmatize the way."
More than half of the people have shown shots of headless body, centered images unflatteringly on the abdomen or the lower part of the body — overweight compared to the subjects of thin, overweight were 23 times more likely to have their heads cut off from photos. Obese people also have much more likely to be on the photo side or rear, unclothed or in costume slovenly, eat unhealthy food and being lazy.
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Although articles focus primarily on the reduction of the obesity epidemic, the image that went with them had the opposite effect, say authors of the study. "Research shows that people who read a report on obesity which is paired with a photograph stigmatizing later express higher levels of bias of weight than those who have read the history of news on obesity"coupled with a photograph of nonstigmatizing "the authors of the Centre for food policy and obesity, Rudd write."
As these negative images and attitudes become more frequent, they reinforce certain broader perceptions on overweight - for example that obesity should be held responsible for on the failures of the individual, rather than on the societal and environmental problems.
In turn, social stigma threatens obese persons with depression and the low opinion of itself. And those who consider negative images media can themselves internalize harmful stereotypes weight, in addition to worsening of mental health. The authors that can trigger too hearty meals, inactivity, and weight gain, say.
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The impact of public health of stigmatising the photos online cannot be underestimated, especially considering that millions of Americans - the majority - get their news on the Web instead of print, the authors say. Even when people don't read the stories, they notice still photos.
The authors looked at articles published between 2002 and 2009 on five news sites: CBSnews.com, ABCnews.com, MSNBC.com, FOXnews.com and CNN.com (the last is the property of Time Warner, which also is the owner of this Web site). They also considered as articles on the websites of the major newspapers like the New York Times and the Washington Post, but excluded from the study because many have been published without images.
Some will say that ubiquitous headless body shots are used to protect the privacy of people in the photos. The authors are in disagreement. "Photographs of press degrade and dehumanize the obese when they show them their heads cut out images, the parties of the isolated body, or with an unflattering focus on excess weight," said Rebecca Puhl, co-author of the study and Director of research at the Rudd Center, in a statement. "They become symbols of an epidemic rather than members of society."
Therefore the Rudd Center has established guidelines [PDF] for the fair representation of obese people in the media and compiled his own positive images Gallery (in which overweight people seem to wear professional clothes, eat healthy food or exercise - with their heads in place) that it invites new organizations to use for free. "Studies suggest that communicating acceptance and support, rather than instilling of stigma and shame, are more effective strategies and appropriate to promote behaviours of a healthy lifestyle among obese people," the authors write.
The study was published online by the Journal of Health Communication.
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