Study suggests body-positive movement is making people think they're not obese

[SaysWho?]

http://www.newsweek.com/body-positivity-promotes-unhealthy-habits-study-says-992829

 

Quote

Wider plus-size acceptance might prevent overweight adults from recognizing the extent of their weight gain and promote unhealthy habits, says a study published Friday in the journal Obesity.

 

Researchers surveyed more than 23,000 British overweight or obese adults and gauged their perception of their weight against how much they actually weigh. Men were more likely to underestimate their weight—almost 60 percent—compared to 30 percent of women.

 

Fighting the plus-size stigma hasn’t halted physical health declines: people who misperceived how much they weighed were 85 percent less likely to attempt to lose weight than those who recognized their weight status.

 

This has been brought up on the board many times IIRC. Now a study suggests that the concerns about it are correct.

[Jason]

@kaberle

[brucoe]

People are quite capable of producing all sorts of cognitive dissonance. In the end, if you're overweight, you're overweight.

[SilentWorld]

No fucking shit lmao. 

 

 

[TheLeon]

BIG IS BEAUTIFUL

[SuperSpreader]

I mean... they're British. Amiright!?!? lol

[SuperSpreader]

15 minutes ago, TheLeon said:

BIG IS BEAUTIFUL

You are beautiful.

[Chris-]

But there have also been studies indicating that fat shaming makes people fatter and adversely affects weight loss efforts, so it’s not as simple as ‘body positivity is bad’.

 

Moreover, the conclusion doesn’t follow; surveying someone’s perception of their weight against their actual weight doesn’t test the affect of a social movement, it just tests their self-perception. The researchers are assuming that their perception is dependent upon the movement, which isn’t how research works. 

[SuperSpreader]

 

This athlete disagrees 

[Kal-El814]

22 minutes ago, Chris- said:

But there have also been studies indicating that fat shaming makes people fatter and adversely affects weight loss efforts, so it’s not as simple as ‘body positivity is bad’.

 

Moreover, the conclusion doesn’t follow; surveying someone’s perception of their weight against their actual weight doesn’t test the affect of a social movement, it just tests their self-perception. The researchers are assuming that their perception is dependent upon the movement, which isn’t how research works. 

 

No that can’t be right. My confirmation bias penis doesn’t get erect when i read thread titles for just no reason.

[CitizenVectron]

53 minutes ago, Chris- said:

But there have also been studies indicating that fat shaming makes people fatter and adversely affects weight loss efforts, so it’s not as simple as ‘body positivity is bad’.

 

Moreover, the conclusion doesn’t follow; surveying someone’s perception of their weight against their actual weight doesn’t test the affect of a social movement, it just tests their self-perception. The researchers are assuming that their perception is dependent upon the movement, which isn’t how research works. 

 

This is true. While body-positivity may be responsible for this, it doesn't appear there is any link beyond correlation at the moment. For all we know, people don't consider themselves overweight simply because everyone else around them is fat so they consider it normal.

[marioandsonic]

Speaking as a fat person trying to lose weight, the idea of people ignoring their health issues and insisting that they can be perfectly healthy while being 300+ lbs is fucking horrifying to me.

[Spawn_of_Apathy]

Some may not realize they are more than just overweight, and in the area of obese 

[Chairslinger]

I have a hard time putting myself in the mindset of these hypothetical overweight people who are fat but just don't know it. Perhaps they have been obese since childhood and so have no frame of reference?

Personally, I got about 20 pounds over what I would consider my normal weight at one point, and I felt it every time I would bend over or sit up. And this was at a point where I was just barely over the "overweight" line on BMI charts.

[ort]

Maybe all of the nations obese people share Trump's doctor.

[Kal-El814]

 

[Jason]

7 minutes ago, Kal-El814 said:

 

 

olo at the top response

 

 

[Paperclyp]

To me they’re separate issues that sometimes get conflated. 

 

You can have a positive body image to some degree if you’re overweight and still understand that being overweight is not necessarily a healthy thing. 

 

I’m a physical therapist, and I have actually never met an overweight patient who was in denial about their weight affecting their health. 

 

I’ve also worked with some incredibly healthy overweight and even obese people, whose labs and overall health indicators are in healthy range. It’s certainly not the norm, but I’m always pleasantly surprised by those people lol.