On Apr 11, 7:18 pm, rol...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
(Roland) wrote:
> http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1730150,00.html
>
> Friday, Apr. 11, 2008
> The Obese Feel More Discrimination
> By Alice Park
>
> As obesity rates continue to rise in the U.S., so might our acceptance
of
> those who are overweight. But a new study from Yale University suggests
the
> converse trend: rather than feeling tolerance in our society, the
> overweight and obese say they feel more heavily discriminated against
now
> than they did a decade ago.
>
> Led by Tatiana Andreyeva, a postdoctoral research associate at Yale's
Rudd
> Center for Food Policy and Obesity, a team of researchers questioned
1,100
> subjects, aged 35 to 74, twice over a 10-year span (once between 1995
and
> 1996, and again between 2004 and 2006). The respondents answered 11
> questions about whether they had been discriminated against in the
context
> of common life experiences -- including applying to college or for a
> scholar****p, renting or buying a home in a neighborhood they desired,
> applying for a bank loan or dealing with police. Participants answered
nine
> additional questions about everyday experiences, such as how they were
> treated in restaurants, and whether they had encountered name-calling,
> harassment or threats. The subjects were asked to indicate the reasons
they
> felt they had been discriminated against (facing police harassment, for
> example, or being denied bank loans), whether it was because of age,
> gender, race, height or weight, physical disability, ***ual orientation
or
> religion. Between the two survey periods, the rate of discrimination due
to
> height or weight increased from 7% of respondents to 12% of respondents.
> (The scientists determined separately that the people who re****ted
> discrimination due to height or weight were also more likely than other
> participants to be overweight or obese.)
>
> The study is one of the first to track patterns of discrimination based
on
> weight. It's worth noting, however, that the survey relied on people's
own
> perception of discrimination -- the authors did not require the subjects
to
> do***ent bias in any way. In addition, the authors found that rates of
> discrimination by age and gender also increased in the same time period,
> suggesting that several forms of bias -- or perhaps sensitivity to
perceived
> bias -- is on the rise overall, not just against the overweight.
> Nevertheless, the study did track the same population over time, and
> Andreyeva says that an increase even in people's perceived sense of
> maltreatment is an im****tant measure of our society's attitudes. In this
> re****t, weight ranked third behind age and race as the most common form
of
> prejudice. "If a person perceives he is being discriminated against,"
> Andreyeva says, "it might have significant consequences for his or her
> health and mental health. Even the perception of discrimination can be
> im****tant because it is self-perpetuating." And if rates of weight
> discrimination are indeed on the rise, say the authors, then it's up to
> society to mandate legal protections for those who are overweight, just
as
> laws protect people from discrimination by race, gender, disability and
> age.
Another group of "victims"! Problem is the public pays for additional
medical
care that can be the end result of obesity.
ted
http://www.vdare.com/
V-Dare
|
