Summary: The Titanic Obesity Problem

Our Titanic Obesity Problem
America has developed a serious epidemic over the last 30 years. The ever increasing trend of obesity amongst Americans has risen at a staggering rate since the early 1980s. This trend has also developed another serious issue of individuals being targets of weight-based bias and stigma. This kind of discrimination can lead to serious consequences that reduce the quality of life and can hinder weight loss. “When a person is stigmatized or discriminated against because of weight, he or she is more likely to experience depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, and also is more likely to engage in unhealthy eating behavior, like binge eating, extreme dieting, or staying away from physical activity, which all come back to obesity,” says Rebecca Puhl, PhD, director of research at Yale University’s Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity . An individual deals with the stereotypes of being overweight or obese and is often viewed as lazy, less intelligent, not as likely to be in a relationship, not successful, or poor role models. The even more unfortunate part of this stereotype is where these individuals interact with them. Obese individuals face stereotypes at their workplace, educational institutions, healthcare, within the media, and interpersonal relationships. There is a very
There are two groups at fault here; the individual person and society. Individual people need to realize how damaging their actions and words are. There needs be some accountability of individual actions. Society as a whole portrays images of unattainable beauty and stereotypes that enable individuals to create hostile environments. On a broader perspective, attitudes toward the overweight and obese have got to change. This may involve treating obesity stereotyping like racism or sexism or by making it illegal to discriminate against individuals based of weight in educational, employment, and medical