Canadian Obesity Network calls for media to consider how obesity is portrayed

The Canadian Obesity Network and partner Novo Nordisk are requesting a reexamination of how people with obesity are characterized in the media. Specifically, the partnership wants to see media outlets utilize more respectful, non-biased images and descriptions.

A recent survey found 86% of Canadians believe that lifestyle choices concerning diet and physical activity are the leading cause of obesity; 55% also said that they thought people living with obesity did not have self-discipline, according to a press release from the organization.

“We want to work with the media to encourage a shift from the use of imagery that depicts people living with obesity in a negative light, to one that looks at the whole picture,” Arya Sharma, MD, FRCPC, founder and scientific director of the Canadian Obesity Network, said in the release. “These body-focused images can perpetuate negative stereotypes and don’t accurately reflect the whole person, a person who has a life, accomplishments and who is living with a chronic disease versus what many people wrongly assume, a lifestyle choice.”

The Canadian Obesity Network suggests the media update their supply of stock photos concerning obesity to include more accurate and respectful images. It is also encouraging the media to adopt new guidelines on the matter that encourage the use of images that show people with obesity participating in non-sedentary activities that do not involve food or eating, that portray them as educated and employed individuals, and that show them without additional biasing characteristics that might perpetuate weight-based stereotypes.

“People are more motivated by positive encouragement, rather than negative stereotyping,” Michael Vallis, PhD, a psychologist and head of the Behaviour Change Institute said in the release. “Seeing negative stereotypes perpetuated in the media can only hurt efforts made by people living with obesity to achieve successful weight management.”