:^)
Posted on 07/31/2007 8:20:26 AM PDT by CarrotAndStick
LONDON: Overweight people are often bullied and discriminated against because ancient fears that fat humans may be diseased causes their thinner counterparts to dislike them, say scientists.
In a study, reported in the journal Evolution and Human Behaviour, the researchers have found that the mere sight of someone who is overweight can trigger feelings of disgust and nausea similar to encountering rotten food.
Since bacteria and viruses are invisible, human brains have evolved to react to outward signs of disease like rashes and wounds, and these signs also include excessive body fat, suggests the study.
"Antipathy towards obese people is a powerful and pervasive prejudice in many contemporary populations," the Daily Mail quoted the team from the University of British Columbia as saying.
"Our results reveal, for the first time, that this prejudice may be rooted in multiple, independent mechanisms," the research team added.
The study showed that feelings of disgust towards the obese were strongest in people with the greatest fear of disease.
Participants who agreed with comments like "it really bothers me when people sneeze without covering their mouths" in the questionnaires given were found to be more likely to agree with statements such as "if I were an employer looking to hire, I might avoid hiring a fat person".
"The research sounds reasonable enough I suppose; obesity is unhealthy and if there is something in us that helps us avoid ill health I can understand that," television presenter Anne Diamond, who helps people conquer obesity after briefly ballooning to 14st 9lb herself, said.
"But I don't believe that in the 21st century we can use it as an excuse for prejudice. Obesity is an illness, but something becoming so common that it will soon be the norm," she added.
:^)
What about “wasting” diseases? There are just as many of those.
I don’t wanna see that :(
If it is an infectious disease, let me know when there is an effective treatment...
That’s funny; I thought skinniness was a SURE sign of disease. Especially in “ancient” times - how many managed to get fat?
“Obesity is an illness,...”
uh-oh...must be the glands...yep, the glands...
I’d hit it.
(with a stick, to motivate her on the treadmill, that is.)
Obesity is an illness? Perhaps for very, very few people. But for the rest, I don’t buy it.
Why I was a kid there seemed to be a lot less fat people - now they account for at least a third of the population. How come?
I think it’s caused by little personal discipline and lots of personal consumption - literally.
those poor suffering blue jeans
Why s/b When
Bu then there was Short Fat Fannie!
Well, that plus all the bacteria hiding in those many extra folds... ;)
Sheesh. Somebody needs to lighten up.
(except my dog, and she probably looks at me as a potential meal)
And notice the backpack? That likely means she’s a college student. Maybe 20-22 years of age. You just can’t let your body go out of control while still practically a teenager. It’s only going to get tougher to lose weight later in life.
You can usually tell which people need to workout by 20, so that they’re not obese by the time they reach 25-30. I see attractive girls at the YMCA all the time - but some of them, I can’t help but think “This girl or that girl - it’s a darn good thing she’s trying hard now because otherwise she’ll be huge within 3-5 years.”
I don’t mean to sound shallow - if that’s how that last paragraph came across. It’s just that physical fitness and eating healthy are important - (can) save from a variety, host of problems occurring later in life.
“””80% of the people you will see in news clips for a week will look exactly like that picture”””
...holding a giant funnel cake.
Dang, Hillary sure fills out a pair of jeans!
or a Ham on a stick....
Odd. Most of our bullies in school were fat. They picked on the thin people. Has that changed since the 60’s?.......
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