Follow Newser on Twitter   Friend Newser on Facebook
Snappy newsletters. Simple Facebook sharing. Spirited comments. Sweet features are waiting… GET THEM NOW!

US Exports Its Fat-Is-Evil Perception Around the World

Anthropologists see stigma showing up in other nations for first time

By John Johnson,  Newser Staff

Posted Mar 30, 2011 1:26 PM CDT

(Newser) – Nice job, America. Your obsession with body weight is now making people in other countries feel bad. So say anthropologists who surveyed attitudes about weight around the world and found that a "fat stigma" is showing up for the first time in places such as American Samoa, Puerto Rico, and Paraguay—where having extra pounds has long been seen as a good thing, reports the New York Times.

Researchers figure the campaign against obesity in the West is a main contributing factor. “The change has come very, very fast in all these places,’’ says one Arizona State University professor. “Of all the things we could be exporting to help people around the world, really negative body image and low self-esteem are not what we hope is going out with public health messaging."

The stigma against being overweight seems to be spreading around the world.
The stigma against being overweight seems to be spreading around the world.   (Shutterstock)
« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow
My TakeCLICK BELOW TO VOTE
16%
6%
46%
15%
3%
13%
To report an error on this story, notify our editors.
A snapshot of the day's best news stories.
 
COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 6 comments
darkiye
Mar 31, 2011 5:12 AM CDT
Maybe they should lose some fucking weight, then?
Connsuckballs
Mar 30, 2011 5:36 PM CDT
Personally, I don't give a damn about how people eat. What I do give a damn about are over weight people, who don't have health insurance, expect the rest of us to subsidize their medical costs when the go to the hospital for treatment. ReTHUGlicans, regressives and CONservatives want to bump their gums against what Mrs. 44 is doing with her "Let's Move" deal, but she's only trying to help this fat ass country be more healthy, which in the long run is better for those of us who do have health insurance
TheImpostor
Mar 30, 2011 3:59 PM CDT
It won't be long before laws are passed (probably the Misuse of Food Act 2013) which make eating particular food-stuffs, or getting overweight, into criminal offences - with life/death sentences for trafficking of saturated fat, salt and sugar. What's that? You think that's too wild? Well get in your time machine (next to the washing machine usually) and go back 150 years and ask people whether they thought that growing, possessing or consuming particular plants would be made illegal within the next century: they would have laughed in your futuristic face.

More Newser Stories

Why Food Must Be Regulated Like Tobacco

42% of Americans Will Be Obese by 2030

Why We're Losing the Obesity Fight

Overweight? Blame It on CO2

Black Women Heavier, Happier With Bodies


NEWS FROM OUR PARTNERS
Other Sites We Like:   24/7 Wall St.   |   BuzzFeed   |   Cracked   |   Timelines   |   Geek Sugar   |   Business Insider   |   HuffPost Entertainment