People who are living with obesity often report discrimination or judgement by others about their weight. People report that they can experience negative reactions in many aspects of their life including feeling judged by others. From housing and education though to work opportunities and relationships, people often report being treated unfairly. This can mean that people can be left feeling isolated and that they don’t have the same opportunities available to them as others.
This can feel very difficult and we know that many people do not understand the difficulties often faced by people who are living with obesity. When people don’t understand and perhaps make an unhelpful comment we tend to repeat previous cycles of behaviour e.g. emotional eating due to feelings of shame.
People living with obesity also often report feeling guilty and a sense of shame about not being able to manage their weight and this can leave us more vulnerable to feelings of low mood and more likely to continue to engage in unhealthy eating behaviours.
The clip (left) highlights weight stigma often experienced by people.
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