Fat-Shaming May Curb Obesity?

Really not a victim
"Here, eat this, it tastes great. I promise it's not bad for you."
"Oh ok. Hey you're right, this is great." <eats badly for years and gets obese>
"You *kitten*! You never told me it would make me like this. Hand me another piece of pie." <Continues to eat badly. Dies>

Overeating makes you fat, not some individual food

I've edited the post, just for you.

How about more nutritional education in our schools, so children grow up learning that food is for feeding their bodies not thier moods.
Negative reinforcement does not work. I see the appeal though. It is the easy way to deal with a problem. It is much harder to be empathetic, a good listener and truely encouraging.
Let's not be lazy. Sincere interest in people is worth the effort.

Education in school is a tricky thing these days. In American public schools they'd teach the USDA food plate. Would every parent be okay with that?

Seems unlikely to me. People who are obese (myself included) often eat their feelings. So, shame would make them eat more. In addition, if I were working as hard as I have been to lose weight and constantly felt shamed about my weight, in my early stages I probably would have given up. Lots of people already publicly shame obese people. Rude comments and looks in public are not uncommon for the obese.
I've heard this argument before. I don't know how it would affect everyone, but more shame on top of the current norm would not have helped me.
Just my opinion

Everyone else has already said quite well why shaming doesn't work (and is in fact counter-productive). Does shaming make it EASIER for people to be healthier? No. What would make it easier that society could actually do?

-Stop subsidizing corn and milk as much, start subsidizing fruits and vegetables a little more (or you know, subsidize nothing)
-Provide more public parks where people live and work. More outdoor spaces where people can play/run/walk workout and be SAFE. A lot of us have limited access to safe places to be outside.
-More gym/indoor exercise availability for more people. I am lucky that I work at a big company that has several gyms and lockers/showers. More places should do and provide this, maybe communities can provide to their communities etc. (church gyms? I don't know, just a thought)
-Better education in schools and for the public in general as to what is "healthy". Old cereal commercials when I was a kid used to say "part of a healthy breakfast" i notice they don't say that anymore. But a lot of crazy high calorie foods still call themselves "healthy" these days and that doesn't help.
-Healthier foods for kids in school
-Bring back longer physical education in school. They are cutting this and recess in so many places, kids need MORE time to play, not less. We adults on here learned this the hard way. As soon as you start to "schedule" in gym time, it's something you want to keep doing. So we need to schedule in play time for kids.
-More access to sports for kids. Kids and parents are overscheduled, anything we can do to make it easier is great. Even if the kid isn't good enough to make the basketball team, maybe there's still a casual basketball thing the kid can do instead.
-Teachers/counselors need to encourage kids to be healthy not shame them. I was not overweight in high school, but I sure thought I was fat. And I couldn't run worth a darn and was the slowest kid (who didn't have a legit health problem). P.E. teachers just shamed me and chewed me out. What if one of them had taken me aside and taught me how to run? Someone the other day just posted a link to the Henry Rollins article The Iron (http://baye.com/the-iron-by-henry-rollins/) where a high school counselor taught him how to lift. We all know if you want to deadlift your own weight or 2x your own weight or whatever you don't just start at that weight and keep failing. You need to get there via progression. Same is true for running. Same is true for being healthy. Imagine if PE teachers took aside fat kids, built some confidence in them, and taught them little by little how to get stronger, be faster, etc.

Focus should be on promoting healthy behaviors. Not shaming.

If we want to shame people I vote we shame...
-The a-hole drivers who look perturbed that they actually have to come to a complete stop at the stop sign so I can run by them at the intersection (sorry I ruined your day)
-The a-hole drivers who speed up when they see me running, or see someone else cycling

Well, one of the arguments was that public shaming of smokers worked to get people to quit smoking.

Some people are genetically predisposed to obesity. Medical issues. Hormonal problems. No one is predisposed to smoking.

Not that that is an excuse to be obese, but it's also very easy for a slender person to make this assumption.

Well, that AND various governments in the UK, Europe, NZ and other places bringing in legislation banning it from almost everywhere and raising the taxes on it.

I often wonder once they have got all of these places smoke free, what will the nanny state attack next?
What will be the leading cause of death and strain on the health systems that the public must be encouraged to stop doing?

It will be the obese. In some countries obesity is already the leading cause of early death - ahead of smoking.

As for some people being genetically predisposed to obesity - the REAL number of those people globally is very, very small - for most it is just an excuse to eat too much and move too little.

It is an interesting theory. I grew up in the 60's and 70's. Fat people were shamed much more than today back then. There were far fewer fat people. But I'm not sure that shaming was the reason. But the author is correct that shaming smokers did cause a dramatic drop in the number of smokers.

And for those talking of bullying, shaming and bullying are the same thing.

I think shaming was part of the reason, along with the ordinary person being more active.

Negative reinforcement works. Why does it have to cross over the line to shaming? And what is controversial about the idea that if people are too self-accepting they won't change? Who really believes that everything can be in balance and people can have 100% self-esteem?

Discomfort is part of life and often an unavoidable aspect of attaining a goal.

I don't see how fat shaming would work or be a good thing.

If you fat shame, then you will also end up with skinny teenagers that are afraid of being fat and think they are fat. When they hear the fat shaming, they apply it to themselves because they think their thighs are too big (and their thighs are 19 inches and they have six pack abs).

Fat shaming could lead to other kinds of back lash. When one group is shamed there can also be some reactions of shaming someone else (in terms of body shaming). How is that productive to an overall healthy society? Just to note that if we become aware that we have also done this ourselves we can choose to change it if we want.

And think about it this way...What if a child is being abused at home and they are also overweight, do you think fat shaming them is going to help them? It's way too simplistic and does not take the full spectrum of reality into consideration.

What about people that are extremely ill, and take a medication and they blow up with swelling and people just assume they are fat and eat a lot. Yes, it happens. As do many other circumstances. A women that just had a baby is another.

The list is endless, but these are just a few examples.

Sometimes there is an oddball bio-ethicist that says weird things and gets the media to write an article about it. When it is obvious the bio-ethicist is racist it gets rejected a lot sooner, for example.

We can use our brains to think it through with logic about how reality actually works and how people actually work. Sure there is a middle ground somewhere, but it does not involve shaming people's bodies.

I have never been overweight, so I can't comment on that experience. It has never been my personal experience.

Well, one of the arguments was that public shaming of smokers worked to get people to quit smoking.

Some people are genetically predisposed to obesity. Medical issues. Hormonal problems. No one is predisposed to smoking.

Not that that is an excuse to be obese, but it's also very easy for a slender person to make this assumption.

Actually, I think you can be predisposed to smoking. It's like any other addiction. Some people are more likely to have addictions (to anything--food, alcohol, smoking) than others. And it runs in families.

I wonder if shaming shamers would work.

What do you if you have any sense if a predisposition runs in your family? You don't smoke.

Your reaction if your family has a history of alcoholism. You don't drink, or you monitor yourself very carefully.


If you actually have a predisposition to weight gain you have to do whatever it takes to stay a normal weight. It's harder than giving up smoking because we have to eat, but it can be done.

I've seen morbidly obese parents with their morbidly obese children (all of them, grossly overweight, not just one chubby kid). I judge the parents. They have an obligation to teach their kids better.

I think people who have families who smoke are a lot like people whose families are overweight. You are accustomed to smoking/overeating before you know what's good for you. And unless you can get away from your family, you are around smoking and smokers all the time, just like overeaters are around food all the time. I don't think it's impossible not to smoke or over eat in those situations. But by the time you should know better than to do what you are doing, it's already a habit because it's what you grew up with.

Fat shaming would lead to other kinds of back lash. Whenever one person is shamed they tend to react by shaming someone else.

I don't know why you think that. If someone is, say, discriminated against, another bad behavior, it doesn't follow that they will discriminate against other people. In fact, they may be more sensitive about the problem of discrimination.

Fat shaming would lead to other kinds of back lash. Whenever one person is shamed they tend to react by shaming someone else.

I don't know why you think that. If someone is, say, discriminated against, another bad behavior, it doesn't follow that they will discriminate against other people. In fact, they may be more sensitive about the problem of discrimination.

You are right about that. I didn't mean on an individual level. Just that some people would (not everyone). I've seen it in the forums a lot since joining. And I also try to be aware if I do it without realizing it. But, absolutely most people will respond by being more aware and empathic. I see how what I said implied something different then what I meant to say. I just tried editing it to be more what I meant. And I only meant this about body shaming.

Well, one of the arguments was that public shaming of smokers worked to get people to quit smoking.

Some people are genetically predisposed to obesity. Medical issues. Hormonal problems. No one is predisposed to smoking.

Not that that is an excuse to be obese, but it's also very easy for a slender person to make this assumption.

Actually, I think you can be predisposed to smoking. It's like any other addiction. Some people are more likely to have addictions (to anything--food, alcohol, smoking) than others. And it runs in families.

I wonder if shaming shamers would work.

What do you if you have any sense if a predisposition runs in your family? You don't smoke.

Your reaction if your family has a history of alcoholism. You don't drink, or you monitor yourself very carefully.


If you actually have a predisposition to weight gain you have to do whatever it takes to stay a normal weight. It's harder than giving up smoking because we have to eat, but it can be done.

I've seen morbidly obese parents with their morbidly obese children (all of them, grossly overweight, not just one chubby kid). I judge the parents. They have an obligation to teach their kids better.

I think people who have families who smoke are a lot like people whose families are overweight. You are accustomed to smoking/overeating before you know what's good for you. And unless you can get away from your family, you are around smoking and smokers all the time, just like overeaters are around food all the time. I don't think it's impossible not to smoke or over eat in those situations. But by the time you should know better than to do what you are doing, it's already a habit because it's what you grew up with.

So even after you are an independent adult who understands that poor eating is a learned behavior, a HABIT, not an unchangeable trait, Society is supposed to do nothing as you feel sorry for yourself and pass on your bad habits to the next generation, creating all kinds of unnecessary stress on our health care system and already straitened resources?

I don't think people should have to do it alone, but the kind of environment and services that might work cost money, which means raising taxes. Not going to happen now. The individual also has responsibility.

In addition, not everyone raised in a family of smokers smokes: Both my parents smoked into middle age. None of the kids smokes. I'm sure there are people with obese parents who are not obese themselves.

Clearly this man has never been obese, or he'd know obese people already get a shedload of shaming from the general public and it hasn't helped yet. I respond to support, not shaming. That's why MFP has been so helpful.

Clearly this man has never been obese, or he'd know obese people already get a shedload of shaming from the general public and it hasn't helped yet. I respond to support, not shaming. That's why MFP has been so helpful.

Right! The shaming already happens. Even from complete strangers that know nothing about them. It hasn't helped so far. Being depressed does not solve problems (if they are depressed and the shaming increases it).

Fat shaming is what caused my struggle with bulimia in the eighth grade. It won't solve anything. People need an incentive to lose weight. For me, it's this boy I've been eyeing, AND fitting into a size four. NOT being told that I'm fat and should do something about it.

this topic is still going?