Gender, Race, and the Sitgma of Obesity: A New Assessment

• In Event: 343 - Section on Medical Sociology Roundtables (one-hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 14. Weight, Obesity, and Health

Abstract

A growing literature documents the stigma experienced by obese persons and its effects on their physical and mental health and life chances. Although this literature strongly suggests that the extent and impact of obesity stigma should vary by gender and race, prior research on obesity and perceived discrimination largely fails to find this variation. This study argues that certain measurement issues call these prior null findings into question. Using nationally representative data not previously examined in this area, the study finds a general gender and racial context for obesity and perceived everyday mistreatment as would be expected from the obesity stigma literature. In a complementary analysis, the study also conducts the first known investigation of the association between obesity and perceived everyday mistreatment among Mexican-origin Latinos.

Author

• Steven E. Barkan, University of Maine