Obesity and Quality of Life
According to the magazine Psychology Today, obese people are on par with people that are undergoing chemotherapy. Yes, it really is that bad!
There is a strong relationship between obesity and depression. There is a strong social stigma against overweight people. That means they are less likely to have friends, less likely to have good jobs, and that they will overall be treated worse. It all adds up to be a contributing factor for depression.
It has been difficult for researchers to show that the relationship is causal, but we do know that the two go together. Most of us know that being obese makes people feel depressed due to body image problems, heath problems, and most of all being socially stigmatized.
I saw a show on television where grade schoolers were given pictures of children. The pictures were of all different races and the children were different in many ways. The question put to the child was, “Which of these people would you least want to be friends with?” Sadly, all the children chose the fat kid as the least likely person they would want to be friends with.
It may not be right to discriminate against someone for their body type, but it is a fact of life that must be dealt with.
I have heard many fat people say that they just want someone to accept them for the way they are. Then, those same people will often go out and discriminate against other obese people.
I used to work in an office with many obese women. When someone that was young and thin was hired these fat women all fell over them and did things to help them. These same women treated other fat workers much worse. They would withhold help and tell the boss that they shouldn't be given a chance. Almost every week several of them would say that they wanted someone to accept them the way that they are.
There is a strong part of our culture that hates obesity and worships thin people. People discriminate without even thinking about it. It is done, in many cases, on an almost unconscious level. That's why so many fat people will discriminate against other fat people. It's in their culture and brains. Many times people do it without realization.
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