Fat in the Fire? Science, the News Media, and the “Obesity Epidemic”²

Abstract

In recent years, the “obesity epidemic” has emerged as a putative public health crisis. This article examines the interconnected role of medical science and news reporting in shaping the way obesity is framed as a social problem. Drawing on a sample of scientific publications on weight and health, and press releases and news reporting on these publications, we compare and contrast social problem frames in medical science and news reporting. We find substantial overlap in science and news reporting, but the news media do dramatize more than the studies on which they are reporting and are more likely than the original science to highlight individual blame for weight. This is partly due to the news media’s tendency to report more heavily on the most alarmist and individual‐blaming scientific studies. We find some evidence that press releases also shape which articles receive media coverage and how they are framed.

Communicating Stigma About Body Size

“…This approach contrasts with the majority of body-size stigma research that focuses on the stigmatization of large bodies and analyzes body-size stigma victims' recollection of stigmatizing messages (Cossrow, Jeffery, & McGuire, 2001;Puhl, Moss-Racusin, Schwartz, & Brownelll, 2008) or analyzes media discourse about weight (Heuer et al, 2011;Saguy & Almeling, 2008;Saguy & Riley, 2005). In addition, analyzing SC generated by lay individuals adds critical knowledge to the field of stigma research, since previous research indicates that body-size stigma is pervasive (Puhl & Brownell, 2003), but getting participants to admit to feeling stigma toward an individual or group is difficult, and capturing the ways that such stigma is communicated is especially challenging (Bresnahan & Zhuang, 2010).…”

“…Contemporary popular and medical discourse about body size emphasizes individual responsibility for weight and simultaneously highlights the individual and societal financial costs associated with "unhealthy" weighttypically obesity (Saguy & Almeling, 2008;Saguy & Riley, 2005). Smith (2007a) postulates that SC will often assign personal responsibility for the condition to the individual and/or attribute significant social peril (i.e., a costly burden to society) to the condition.…”

Disability Discrimination and Obesity: The Big Questions?

“…For example, it is reported that the media portrayals have increased, consistently present obesity in a negative tone and suggest that obese people need 'remedial action' [29][30].…”

Reporting risk, producing prejudice: How news reporting on obesity shapes attitudes about health risk, policy, and prejudice

“…News reports on health topics reflect widely-held attitudes and also potentially shape attitudes about health risk and health policy (Gollust et al, 2012;Gollust et al, 2013;Saguy and Almeling, 2008). Exposure to some sorts of news media representations of health and illness may also have unintended consequences, such as worsening the stigma associated with certain health risks.…”