Formerly Obese Women Deemed “Less Attractive”
A new study shows women who used to be obese are considered less attractive then women who were never over weight.
Researchers asked young women and men to read about women who had either lost 70 pounds of excess weight or had stayed the same weight, and who were either currently obese or currently thin.
The participants were then asked about some of the women’s attributes, including their attractiveness.
“We were surprised to find that currently thin women were viewed differently depending on their weight history,” study leader Janet Latner, of the University of Hawaii at Manoa, said in a news release. “Those who had been obese in the past were perceived as less attractive than those who had always been thin, despite having identical height and weight.”
The participants also showed greater bias against obese people after they had read about women who had lost weight, compared to after reading about weight-stable women — regardless of whether the weight-stable women were thin or obese.
The findings suggest that the stigma of obesity is so powerful that it can continue even after an obese person has lost weight.
The researchers said they were particularly troubled by the finding that participants’ negative attitudes towards obese people increased when they were falsely told that body weight is easily controlled.
