Globalization of Fat Stigma

Thursday, 31 March 2011 | by Pat's Picks

The New York Times reports on an unintended consequence of the world’s amped up awareness about obesity: the outsourcing of America’s “stigma against fat people.” A recent study found that in countries where “larger bodies traditionally have been viewed as attractive,” people are now more likely to view overweight people as lazy or at fault for their heavier size.

Researchers say they expected to see “the globalization of fat stigma” in “Anglosphere” countries—the US, the UK, Australia, etc—but were surprised at “the level of criticism and blame leveled at people who are overweight” in other parts of the world.

Read an abstract of the study, published in the journal Current Anthropology