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Media and Its Influence on Obesity

  • Psychological Issues (V Drapeau and S Sogg, Section Editors)
  • Published:
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Abstract

Purpose of Review

To review how the media frames obesity and the effect it has upon on public perceptions.

Recent Findings

The scientific and public health understanding of obesity increasingly points away from individual behaviors and toward medical and community factors, but diffusion of this knowledge is slow. Growing awareness of the importance of body positivity is driving attention to the harms of weight bias and fat shaming.

Summary

Health science reporting related to obesity, nutrition, and physical activity tends to perpetuate myths and misunderstandings. Moving forward, greater attention to accurate messages about obesity and evidence-based interventions will be essential for progress to reduce suffering and the impact on public health from this chronic disease.

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Funding

This work was supported in part by NIH NIDDK R01 DK103946 03.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Harvard Medical School (HMS), Boston, MA, 02115, USA

    Fatima Cody Stanford & Zujaja Tauqeer

  2. Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Weight Center, Boston, MA, 02114, USA

    Fatima Cody Stanford

  3. MGH Internal Medicine-Gastroenterology and Pediatrics Endocrinology, Boston, MA, 02114, USA

    Fatima Cody Stanford

  4. ConscienHealth, Pittsburgh, PA, 15241, USA

    Theodore K. Kyle

Authors
  1. Fatima Cody Stanford
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  2. Zujaja Tauqeer
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  3. Theodore K. Kyle
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Theodore K. Kyle.

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Conflict of Interest

Fatima Cody Stanford and Zujaja Tauqeer declare that they have no conflicts of interest. Theodore K. Kyle has received compensation from Novo Nordisk, Nutrisystem, the Obesity Action Coalition, and The Obesity Society for service as a consultant.

Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent

This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Psychological Issues

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Stanford, F.C., Tauqeer, Z. & Kyle, T.K. Media and Its Influence on Obesity. Curr Obes Rep 7, 186–192 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13679-018-0304-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13679-018-0304-0

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