Are fat people unattractive and unpoluar?

[Kaydotrn 1]

Well said Wheetsin.

I get what you are saying.

I was really confused during this post but I think I get it now.

I definitely think yo-yo dieting messes with your metabolism and makes weight loss more difficult, as does age. That being said, I find that exercise and eating small well balanced, Protein rich meals does wonders to revv that metabolism back up.

As far as the obese people being unnattractive? I don't know. I know both beautiful and unnattractive obese peopl (as well as thin). Nathalie is right on when she mentions confidence and attitude playing a major role. I was not feeling confident or attractive 35 pounds ago, but now I feel really good. I keep reminding my husband that I am hot stuff! I am far from a model of a healthy, fit body at 230+pounds but I feel good and that reflects in my physical appearance.

[laurigee 545]

This is the most confusing thread I have ever been on. I definately have no more to say because truthfully I have no clue what is even being talked about anymore, so CHOW

[*Cal~Girl 0]

My husband once told me that 95% of men find thin women attractive. This floored me comming from him to his heavy wife. He admitted that he was one of those men. Hmmm....but, he never complained during sex.........ain't that funny )

[bobby_hamrick 0]

didnt read the other post a straight off answer is no. I have always been parcial to bigger woman and I have not always been big myself. This was even in school and now!

[ted12345 0]

<TABLE width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD colSpan=2>The social and psychological consequences of obesi </TD></TR><TR><TD>Our society has a very negative view of overweight and obesity. Research evidence of stigma and discrimination agrees with the public values and attitudes commonly expressed by the media. They tell us that being fat is an extremely unattractive and undesirable way to be, indeed, that it is a state to be avoided at all costs. This hostility towards fatness has been compared with other common social prejudices, and the striking conclusion drawn that anti-fat attitudes are at the stage that racism was some 50 years ago; namely, that anti-fat attitudes are overt, expressible and widely held.

The perception of obesity

This derogatory view of obesity is not new. Some of the earliest research, published in the 1960s, examined children’s attitudes, presumably because they openly reflect prevailing adult opinion. In one of these studies 10- and 11-year old children were presented with six line drawings of a child as physically normal and with each of five physical disabilities, one being overweight. Ranking the figures by asking which they liked best resulted in a robust order of preference, with the normal child at the top, and the overweight child at the bottom, below that of a child with facial disfigurement, in leg brace and crutches, or in a wheelchair. In a second study children were asked to assign 39 adjectives to one of three silhouette drawings depicting a thin, a muscular, and a fat body shape. The obese body shape was least frequently assigned ‘best friend’, most frequently ‘gets teased’, and labelled ‘lazy, dirty, stupid, ugly, liar and cheat’ more often than the other body shapes.

Subsequent research has confirmed both this order of preference and these perceived negative character traits, broadly describing the obese stereotype as greedy, lazy, of lower intelligence, and socially isolated. It also suggests that the negative response has increased rather than relaxed as might be expected given the increasing levels and public face of obesity.

These two studies are important since they describe two principal features of the stigma of overweight. On one hand is the stigmatisation of bodily appearance; obesity is a highly visible but undesirable state. On the other, is the stigmatization of character; the moral view that holds the obese personally responsible for their own state and so blames them for their fatness.

Further research with children has extended this characterisation and shows that even pre-adolescents have incorporated the message of poor health, fitness and eating habits in their attributions of overweight. Likewise, there are social class variations in these negative views, with the least favourable attitudes more likely to be expressed by children from higher social class backgrounds.

During adolescence overweight may be an important determinant of social experience. Overweight adolescents, for example, receive fewer friendship nominations than lean peers and are less likely to be named as a friend by people they nominate. In addition, teenagers express discomfort with dating overweight peers, something particularly strongly expressed by boys. This confirmation of overweight as unattractive, unhealthy, and least acceptable in affluent social circles goes some way to explaining the high levels of body shape dissatisfactions and dieting in pre-adolescent and teenage girls.

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Download File </TD><TD> </TD></TR><TR><TD colSpan=2>Obesity and psychological health </TD></TR><TR><TD>Given the above catalogue of stigmatisation, a state of poor psychological health would be expected for all obese individuals. However, this is not the case. The variation in psychological adjustment among the obese is broadly comparable to that in the population at large. And there is certainly no major psychiatric disorder or specific personality disorder associated preferentially with obesity.

However, there is an emerging literature linking obesity with depression. In one study, for example, over 40,000 adults were given a structured interview including an assessment of anxiety and depression as part of a National Alcohol Survey. Obesity was associated with a 37% increased risk of major depression in women but a 37% decreased risk of depression in men. There was a similar association between obesity, gender and suicide attempts – obese women at increased risk, obese men at decreased risk. Furthermore, although the association between female obesity and depression was rather modest in epidemiological terms, the researchers had controlled for depression co-occurring with physical illness or bereavement. When these were included the association between obesity and past-year depression further strengthened. In another large scale community survey in the US, obesity was significantly associated with past-month depression in women (odds ratio = 1.82) but not in men. Furthermore, there is longitudinal evidence that in people aged over 50, obesity increases the risk of developing depression.

The relationship between obesity and self-esteem is not clear-cut either. In adults, obesity is associated with a modest reduction in self-esteem, sometimes limited only to those with morbid obesity. In pre-adolescent children, obesity has little or no impact on global self-esteem. In teenagers, self-perceived overweight is more closely associated with reduced self-esteem than is actual overweight. Similarly, this relationship is stronger in females than in males.

Body esteem, or satisfaction with appearance, is the domain of self-worth most affected by obesity. This is especially true for obese adolescents and young women whose sense of identity is greatly dependent on appearance and in whom some show very high levels of body dissatisfaction. Again, body dissatisfaction may be more strongly associated with perceived overweight and depression, than with actual weight. Therapy aimed at improving body image in obese women has shown some success in relieving negative psychological symptoms but has little impact on body weight.

Further studies of large representative samples using established measures of health-related quality of life have helped separate physical functioning from psychological health, while showing their inter-dependence. Age is an important moderator of the relationship between obesity and well-being. Overweight and obese women in their late teens and early twenties score significantly lower in physical functioning, vitality and general health, but show few differences on any of the main psychological health measures. The pattern for middle-aged women (45-49) is different. First, there are proportionately more overweight and obese women in this age group. Second, these older obese women score significantly lower than those of average weight on all the physical and psychological health scales.

Most of the available evidence shows the greatest deficits are in the severely or morbidly obese (BMI>40). Scores on the psychological health scales for the moderately obese (BMI 30-40) show similarity to those who are underweight (BMI<20), whereas overweight women show similarity to normal weight individuals.

It is also important to take account of the co-occurrence of chronic illness. In one study, people with obesity plus other chronic health conditions (around half the obese) reported particularly poor physical and psychological health. Since this was most apparent in those with 3 or more chronic conditions it identifies an especially vulnerable group. It is also notable that among groups of people with similar levels of chronic illness, the additional presence of obesity was associated with a significant deterioration in physical but not emotional well-being. This means that past assessments of psychological well-being may have been confounded by physical health problems. It also shows that obese individuals with pain or co-occurring chronic illnesses are most at risk of psychological distress.

</TD><TD> </TD></TR><TR><TD colSpan=2>Binge-eating disorder </TD></TR><TR><TD>Binge eating is one clinical problem that does appear to be more prevalent in the obese, at least in those entering weight loss programmes. The recently described syndrome of ‘binge eating disorder’ (binge eating without purging by vomiting or other means) has been described in 30% of patients attending US weight loss clinics. The use of strict diagnostic criteria reduces this to well below 20%. In community samples, BED is much less common, apparent in only 1-3% of respondents. Overall, the prevalence of BED in any group increases with increasing obesity. Interestingly, up to half describe their binge eating as preceding their obesity, rather than arising as a consequence of extreme dieting, the pattern most commonly found in bulimia nervosa.

Attitudes of health professionals

Given what has been written above it should be no surprise that the attitudes and beliefs of health professionals reflect those of the wider community. Thus research shows that doctors and medical students are likely to share the moralistic view that obese people are weak-willed, ugly, less competent and likeable, and less likely to benefit from counselling. Bias has also been observed in nurses and nursing students, nutritionists and psychologists. Even health professionals who specialise in obesity show anti-fat biases. They mask overtly negative responses but measures of implicit attitudes reveal the culturally prevalent stereotyping.

One important question is whether professionals’ views of overweight have consequences for the medical process. Some time ago it was noted that doctors were more likely to note a weight problem and recommend a treatment programme for women than men. More recently, obese women were found more likely to be misclassified as having coronary heart disease than non-obese women. In addition, the prescribing of lipid lowering medication by British general practitioners has been found less likely in overweight people, with doctors explicitly stating this as their policy. However, the most apparent consequence is the reluctance of obese individuals to seek medical care. This is not restricted to consultations about weight loss but has been observed in decreased use by obese women of preventive health care services such as breast screening.

This reluctance could be because obese individuals are aware of the negative attitudes of medical professionals towards people such as themselves. It also may be the result of body self-consciousness, or past experience of health professionals attributing health problems to the obesity. Additionally, doctors may be disinterested in managing overweight patients, in part based on their perceived futility in bringing about weight loss in a group with little presumed will-power.

</TD><TD> </TD></TR><TR><TD colSpan=2>The effects of weight change </TD></TR><TR><TD>The effects of weight loss on improving feelings of well-being and self-esteem have been reported many times. This may be especially marked when some form of physical exercise or activity has been part of the weight loss strategy. Indeed, relatively modest reductions in weight can improve general psychological health. However, the mixture of individuals who enter a weight control programme will experience a mixture of psychological repercussions. These will include, pride in their success and a feeling of mastery, annoyance at the difficulties in adjusting their routine to ensure weight loss, despair at apparent failure, and anger and frustration at the effort that has to be expended. Significant and sustained weight loss is not easy for the great majority to achieve. Weight regain is usually associated with loss of psychological gains, although one study at least has shown the psychological benefits of weight loss to remain with full weight regain.

The relationship between weight loss and mood is a complicated one and an issue that is not limited to obesity. Of relevance here though is the observation that greater and faster weight losses are associated with poorer mood outcomes. Specifically, nearly half of the studies with a mean weight loss of greater than 9 kg (20 lb) have reported aversive mood consequences. In contrast, there are none in those with smaller weight losses.

A related issue is that of weight cycling, or the phenomenon of repeatedly losing and regaining weight, noted as frequent in both overweight and non-overweight individuals. The very few studies that have examined the psychological consequences are consistent in showing that those with a history of weight cycling have significantly more psychological problems, lower levels of satisfaction with life, and more eating disorder symptoms than those who are weight stable. In addition, obese binge eaters have been found to have more past weight cycling episodes than obese non-binge eaters. However, the research cannot yet distinguish whether it is the weight cycling that causes these psychological problems, whether the problems themselves lead to intensified dieting but weight regain, or that weight cycling and psychological problems are correlated but not causally related.

Attempts to identify psychological predictors of weight loss have not met with great success. As the preceding account implies, the presence of depression, anxiety or binge eating is associated with poorer weight loss, although again findings are inconsistent. Similarly, summary measures of readiness to change or motivation to lose weight have generally failed to predict outcome. In contrast, self-efficacy – a person’s evaluation of whether s/he can perform the behaviours required for weight loss – is a modest but consistent predictor of success.

The need for change

Obesity can have devastating psychosocial consequences. However, the mechanisms to impaired psychological health are different from those to physical illness. Two prominent researchers in the field, Stunkard and Sobal make the point very bluntly:

".... obesity does not create a psychological burden. Obesity is a physical state. People create the psychological burden."

Changing people's attitudes and thus those of society will not be easy. But the analogy with racism could be used as a starting point for identifying those strategies that have been most successful in the past, and by learning from their outcome. The combination of education, science, good practice, changes in legislation, and a promotion of tolerance, are all necessary to meet this goal. The inclusion of psychological well-being as an obesity treatment goal, the activities of patient support groups, the development of training packages for health professionals, prosecutions for false weight loss product claims by trading standards officers, and test cases for discrimination under employment law would all be steps in the right direction.

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[ted12345 0]

you ether agree with the comments that obese people are NEVER popular attractive or have a life or you dont,

How confusing is that???

Stick with societys negative views or just take people for what they are with out being so judgemental.

[Nathalie 4]

You're right Paige. You're absolutely right. 100%!!!

Nathalie

[stacyrtl 0]

This is the most confusing thread I have ever been on. I definately have no more to say because truthfully I have no clue what is even being talked about anymore, so CHOW

LOL:tea:

Someome is about to throw down!:boxing:

I am with you all the way!! The conversations are jumping all over the place. :noidea:

[Fauxnaif 1]

Not that long ago I told a fewllow bandster, who also was a normal weight for most of her life, that I felt sorry for people just seeing their real bodies for the first time. Sorry for them because, how weird it must be to not have any idea what you look like at a normal weight - to not know the shape of your hips, or whether you have shapley legs. I mean - if someone has been overweight their entire lives, they've never known these things, right? That's sad to me. And while I can say, "I'm getting my body back", they may say, "I'm getting a body". But while I do say that, I would never say that obese people couldn't be popular.

F*cking A!

Tis a strange feeling indeed and one I know well.

[MarySue33 0]

you ether agree with the comments that obese people are NEVER popular attractive or have a life or you dont,

How confusing is that???

Well...now that you put it like that...of course, I don't believe that.

I'm with Nathalie 100% of the way. I was 'normal sized' in HS and college, but was too shy to date or to even let a guy know I was interested.

I know this is the opposite of what happens to most people, but I actually am far more confident now than I EVER was when I was 30 years ago when I was thinner. I started this lap band journey 100# overweight and morbidly obese, but with an amazingly busy social calendar.

I truly believe that attractiveness is WAY more about confidence and how you make other people feel when you are around them and WAY less about how fat you are.

Once I developed a little bit of confidence, I became 1000x more popular than I ever was before -- and this was all AFTER I gained the 100#. I have thinner and much more 'society-acceptable' friends and family who wonder why they can't get a second date with a guy.

I can tell you why...because they don't have what Nathalie and I are talking about -- confidence, and the ability to make people comfortable around them.

You've got to believe in yourself first...cuz if you don't...nobody else will, either.

[Marimaru 7]

"My heart breaks over obese people who have NEVER been popular, had lots of dates, rode a horse, ran a marathon, etc."

This does not say to me that obese people are never popular and had an active life. This says to me that the poster feels bad for obese people WHO HAVE NEVER been popular or had an active life. I believe they are saying basically that they know that there are obese people out there who've always been obese, and they are held back by it. They don't run marathons, or go skiing, or do lots of other active things. I've known lots and lots and lots of people in this position. Most of them are saying things like "When I lose this weight, I'll..." I had started to become like that, but now I'm actually losing the weight and doing those things.

I've always been overweight. Like Wheetsin was saying, I'm one of those people who has no idea what my body looks like under all the fat. I have an attractive personality, which is why my fiance is with me. He has admitted that I would be my physically attractive to me if I lost weight, but that it's not really what matters anyhow.

Fat/Thin, Tall/Short, a person can present themselves attractively or not. There are people out there who think that all fat people are ugly, but there aren't really all that many people that black/white about it, and all you have to do is avoid those people.

[BabyGotBack 0]

I actually find myself drawn to overweight people because I know I relate to them and their emotions better. Even when I have been thinner, 145 pounds, my struggles and emotions are not that of a thin person.

I see the inside of the person and like to encourage them to jump on the wagon with me.

Audree

[Carlene 12]

I'm not exceptionally cute...

I think you're cute, Wheetsin.

[Jachut 487]

I'd say a ind of no.

Most people look better at a healthy weight though - photos of me now at my heaviest look bloated and just not glowing, plus I'm not naturally that beautiful and pretty and I look way better now you can see bones and not 4 chins. I'd say I'm average looking - attractive to some pople and just not other's cup of tea.

But I have several obese friends who would be beautiful by anyone's standards, glossy dark hair, olive skin, brown eyes kind of beatiful for example. My girlfriends is like that, she's gorgeous. She also has the most marvellous sense of style in both herself and her home, she's gregarious and outgoing and popular and just an allround gorgeous person.

Some people just arent blessed to be that attractive and they put on weight in an unfortunate way too. Some people can be big but carry themselves well and look "together" whilst others look slovenly and sloppy and dont dress well and can look dirty and unkempt too. But they probably wouldnt look great as thin people either, kind of thing.

As to popularity, I do believe if you look unattractive, you probably will face discrimination in one form or another but on a personal level I dont differentiate or choose friends based on what people look like though I probably respond differently to people I dont know.

I get way more male attention now, though, that's for sure.

Its wrong but its the way the world works.

[Marissa424 1]

To Me - Not To Sound Mean Because I Am Obese But I Dont Find Them Or Myself Attractive - Chubby Is Cute Though