Fat Stigma Spreads From Western Countries

 

A new study finds that the number of societies without negative views about fat has shrunk in the past few decades. The change comes on the heels of increased global desire for slimness, researchers report in April in the journal Current Anthropology.

"These really negative ideas, these moralizing ideas about what it means to be fat seem to have spread very quickly," study researcher Alexandra Brewis, an anthropologist at the Arizona State University, told LiveScience. "It's this moral judgment that creates prejudice and discrimination."