02 Jul Plus Size Model on Flight Sees Fellow Passenger Texting About Her Weight and Confronts Him About It

Any way you look at it, fat shaming is awful. It is not only presumptuous to make comments about someone else’s body, without knowing anything about their health or fitness journey, but also simply rude to comment on something so personal. Shamers might argue that pointing out weight issues is likely to spur the individual to improve their health, but research has proved this wrong repeatedly. One British study conducted by University College, London in 2014 studied 3,000 people for four years. The survey found that the 5% who experienced “weight discrimination” gained an average of 0.95kg during hat period while those who did not lost an average of 0.71kg. Another study conducted by the University of Pennsylvania also confirmed that fat shaming is linked to adverse health effects, finding that painful messages can drive people towards comfort eating thus increasing their risk of cardiovascular and metabolic disease. Professor Rebecca Pearl, who authored the study, described body shaming as a “pervasive form of prejudice”. Commenting on its findings, she directly addressed the notion that shaming can encourage individuals to lead healthy lifestyles.

“There is a common misconception that stigma might help motivate individuals with obesity to lose weight and improve their health. We are finding it has quite the opposite effect. When people feel shamed because of their weight, they are more likely to avoid exercise and consume more calories to cope with this stress.

“In this study, we identified a significant relationship between the internalisation of weight bias and having a diagnosis of metabolic syndrome, which is a marker of poor health.”

In addition to the physical consequences of fat shaming, such hurtful comments can be emotionally damaging as well. Plus-size model Natalie Hage is a proud promoter of body positivity and plays a major role in the “Eff your beauty standards” movement which was started by fellow plus-size model Tess Holiday. Natalie was on a trip to Los Angeles for a shoot when she encountered a fat shamer. She documented the entire experience on social media.

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