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Lookup NU author(s): Michael Orwin, Dr Elizabeth EvansORCiD
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
Obesity is often attributed to an addiction to high-calorie foods. However, the effect of "food addiction" explanations on weight-related stigma remains unclear. In two online studies, participants (n = 439, n = 523, respectively, recruited from separate samples) read a vignette about a target female who was described as 'very overweight'. Participants were randomly allocated to one of three conditions which differed in the information provided in the vignette: (1) in the "medical condition", the target had been diagnosed with food addiction by her doctor; (2) in the "self-diagnosed condition", the target believed herself to be a food addict; (3) in the control condition, there was no reference to food addiction. Participants then completed questionnaires measuring target-specific stigma (i.e., stigma towards the female described in the vignette), general stigma towards obesity (both studies), addiction-like eating behavior and causal beliefs about addiction (Study 2 only). In Study 1, participants in the medical and self-diagnosed food addiction conditions demonstrated greater target-specific stigma relative to the control condition. In Study 2, participants in the medical condition had greater target-specific stigma than the control condition but only those with low levels of addiction-like eating behavior. There was no effect of condition on general weight-based stigma in either study. These findings suggest that the food addiction label may increase stigmatizing attitudes towards a person with obesity, particularly within individuals with low levels of addiction-like eating behavior.
Author(s): Ruddock HK, Orwin M, Boyland EJ, Evans EH, Hardman CA
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Nutrients
Year: 2019
Volume: 11
Issue: 9
Online publication date: 04/09/2019
Acceptance date: 30/08/2019
Date deposited: 17/09/2019
ISSN (print): 2072-6643
ISSN (electronic): 2072-6643
Publisher: MDPI
URL: https://doi.org/10.3390/nu11092100
DOI: 10.3390/nu11092100
PubMed id: 31487868
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