Obesity Less Of A Stigma For Black Women Than White: REPORT

Whether rooted in the old "big boned" theory or a reluctance to work out for beauty sake, researchers say that black women's perception of obesity differs from that of white women.

Tiffany L. Cox, and her team from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, the Neuropsychiatric Research Institute in Fargo, ND, and Obesity and Quality of Life Consulting in Durham, NC analyzed data between 2000 and 2010 and found that most obese women are dissatisfied with their quality of life when compared to women of "normal" weight, but black women report a higher quality of life than white women of the same weight. (Quality of life measures included physical function, self-esteem, sexual life, public distress and work.) Self-esteem also ranked particularly high among black women.

The study, published in the journal Applied Research in Quality of Life, also found that black women appear to be more concerned about the physical limitations resulting from obesity, than by the potential mental and emotional consequences of being overweight or obese.

With nearly 80 percent of black women over the age of 20 weighing in over their recommended BMI, Cox fears that the idea of experiencing a high quality of life despite having a high BMI may dampen motivation for attempting weight loss, according to MedicalXpress.com.

Cox believes that further research is needed to understand the relationship between weight and quality of life in black women, while previous studies have cited social norms and greater acceptance of larger body sizes as the culprits.

Quick Poll

Are black women misguided in their perception of obesity?

Yes, and social "norms" are to blame.

No. Quality of life is a good indicator of overall well-being.

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Comments

[Hufgirl]

10:12 PM on 01/18/2013

In Africa obesity is seen a wealth. In Asia obesity is seen as healthy. My question to you is what are these doctors in other countries doing wrong (or right) that the american doctors aren't doing??

[Keddria Cousins]

08:42 PM on 06/03/2012

How about we conduct a study on who associated health with being skinny? How about we conduct a study on why women are forced to be miserable, to deny their natural development for the pleasure of men? Why not conduct a study on the person who wrote this article and ask where their sense of body image comes from? No one wants to explore the CORE issues among women. Most black women are taught from a young age that they are going to be stigmatized, that they are going to be sexualized, and are groomed to accept themselves before any amount of content is snatched away from them. It baffles me how we put national attention on bullying in schools but here goes an article bullying the way black women should feel about themselves? Really? Because THEY can't understand why anyone would feel good at a size thats not acceptable to THEM.. then we're the ones with the problem. Lol.. No one will ever make me feel bad about my size. I am who I am and I am comfortable in my skin and if my skin challenges them to question their own beliefs about the skin they're in then thats THEIR problem. I don't need to fight for acceptance because I accept myself.. how about a study be done on that? whatever though, I'll be fat and too happy about it.. seems to bother society more than it bothers me.

[OD Williams]

01:28 PM on 03/13/2012

Just goes to show the results of "studies" and "surveys" can be meaningless. People tend to answer questions differently for a variety of reasons, and the answers you get can be completely untrue. Anytime you get a response from black women thelling you their self esteem is "higher" than those of others, it should be a red flag. As a black man, I can tell you that's not necessarily true.

[brady51h]

03:34 PM on 03/12/2012

It's pretty simple. If man made it it was to make money not for your health. Skip the diet stuff, eat real food and fruit moderately and get off the couch and get out and meet your neighbors.

[Carole McDonnell]

11:29 AM on 01/24/2012

Dang! Trying to deal with nasty self-righteous moralizing about "perception!" Seriously, Huffington? There is research...and then there is piling a lot of flaky "analysis" on top of that research? Flip the research...why are white women not satisfied with themselves as much as Black women? Might not have to do with obesity at all, for one. Might be Black women don't buy into the media's idea of what should make us happy. Might be many Black women are just really happy when they can feed their family and that brings us a great deal of joy so we don't sweat the small stuff that the white world thinks we should. Might be white women have less family or spousal support than Black women. Moreover, are there class issues involved in this article? Working class black and white women generally might think in one way and their middle class counterparts might think differently. And what is "normal": anyway? As a black woman, when I was thinner, some white person was always thinking my butt was too big. I wish you had found ways to deal with perception rather than seeming to affirm research based on faulty ideas of "normal." Honestly, if I hear one more pundit moralizing and treating Black women as moral failures compared to white women!

[veritas88]

11:13 PM on 12/23/2011

Obese women of ALL races need to stop calling their rolls of fat "curves". Curves refer to the feminine hourglass shape, not a huge gut.

[OD Williams]

01:29 PM on 03/13/2012

You've got that right.

[Afrosoulsoul4eva]

03:52 PM on 12/19/2011

Time to git the gym ladies

[probablyme]

06:20 PM on 12/15/2011

Here we go again! The media jumping on black women again. Why is the media so obsessed with how black women live their lives as if whites and others really care. Just like when they compare black women's beauty to other races of beauty and find black women most unattractive of all races of women or when they seek out black women to get on talk shows to try to convince black women to start dating white men. It is just one subject to the next. Why are black women under the microscope? All races of women have obese and over weight women and unattractive in them. Why focus on black?

[WellDuhhh]

01:48 PM on 12/20/2011

The media jumps on ALL women.

[cestmoi815]

04:46 PM on 12/15/2011

Society mandates what is acceptable for each group of women. Until we all get over the negative social stereotypes the media throws in our faces every chance they get, I'm afraid it's a clear waste of time to even contemplate a discussion. Don't agree? Next time you're in line at the grocery store, take a look at all the magazine covers. Need I say more? Kudo's to all women of all sizes who love themselves.

[Lady205]

02:25 PM on 12/15/2011

Nope this article us b.s. Black women complain about their weight like any race of woman and is stigmatized like any race of woman. proof? Look at the comments here.myth exed. Typical skewed study.First of all weight, health is SUPERFICIALLY motivated. Doctors know it, scientist know it and of course we know it. BMI chart is flawed even health professionals admit it constantly. People can flap their lips all they want to about how concerned they are about a person's weight but I'm 90% sure when looking at and discussing a fat person celebrity or not we're not approaching them with a sincere heart like "Oh my God I care so much about this random person's life" no we're approaching it with superficial intent I never see people ponder how much a celebrity has lowered their blood pressure, cholesterol etc when they lose weight I constantly see people praise on their new slimmer better looking appearance. Society doesn't care whether anyone dies or not, especially since we complain about the overpopulated planet. The topic of health/weight is racially, culturally, gender biased, and discrimination motivated. Weight stigma is not a white woman thing it's A UNIVERSAL thing and nothing to be proud of. I applaud programs like H.A.E.S. (health at every size) because it promotes health at every size with tells people to commit to a healthy lifestyle not an unhealthy body image.

[OD Williams]

01:34 PM on 03/13/2012

An average height woman weighing 200 or more lbs is not a BMI issue. Sorry, that's more excuse making and finger pointing.

BMI (in)accuracy can be a legitimate argument when someone may or may not be 5 or 10 lbs. overweight. But the current trends in obesity among black women is staggering. The average black woman now weighs over 200 lbs. Heck, over a decade ago the average dress size for a black American female was a staggering size 20 -- who knows what it is now.

Its time for the false arguments and disingenuous finger pointing to stop. There is nothing superficial about a 200 lb woman. Its this same mentality that's causing our children to now balloon up to dangerous weights and contract obesity-related diseases at a rate never seen before. Its insanity.

[tsemple2]

05:51 PM on 12/13/2011

I Love my sisters so please don't take this the wrong way. Woman of all races are strong and have had to deal with us men. black folk need to start living healthy we already are born to a stressful world.....enjoy the holidays

[allwillc1day]

03:35 PM on 12/13/2011

To Answer the BlackVoices cover picture question........"What Overweight Black Women Care About More Than Health"............How about..............FOOD!!!!!!!........Good,Bad and Lots of it!!! .........................Do I win some kind of prize........Or is someone offended?...........LOL

[MA2AW]

10:40 PM on 12/13/2011

I was going to say Check Day.

[Vondrazy Priest]

01:55 PM on 12/13/2011

That's because caucasian females have always been taught to be their best when black women are their best no matter what. Black women are stronger minded then other females.

[allwillc1day]

03:53 PM on 12/13/2011

Oh Ms Vondrazy ........Priest of the stronger mind..........Does this mean you think you are better than all women?.............Does every Black woman have a stronger mind than every other woman..........or are you just speaking in generalities?..............If it is true that Black women have stronger minds than all other women.....does that mean that God Loves Black Women more than all women....Or do you think you are your own god?........If Black women have stronger minds than other women will their great mind set get them as a group closer to God?............Maybe that means Black women are gods and you are the high priest? ...................How High are You?.....lol.......Hope to see you in Heaven...

[motherofpearls]

10:14 PM on 12/13/2011

Oh allwillc1day. I don't know what ails you about Black women, but you appear to have some emotional issues. Hopefullly you do not have any children to sprew your angst on.

motherofpearls

[skyblue50]

09:10 AM on 12/12/2011

I don't believe black women gave higher self esteem than other races. That stat had been published since I was young and it doesn't make sense. That's just a stat put out to solicit more negative remarks and attacks black women.

As far as obesity.. Well the country is obese. Everyone fails to mention that whenever they write these negative attention stories. Black women have a right to have ups and downs as a group of women like ALL. There are more bw who aren't fat than those who are so why the constant focus? Not to mention name a time when bw haven't been called fat in this country?

The entire thing is a joke. Every single bit of it. Not to mention lots of black guys are fat themselves. Noone talks about that..

Epidemic means a problem has hit ALL groups .. Class and race.. All are affected. Obesity has been listed as an epidemic for awhile now.

[Lady205]

02:55 PM on 12/15/2011

Ah someone with a brain, so refreshing to see. Unfortunally a lot of us reject using our brains when it comes to certain topics especially about race + weight we just know **in cave man voice** Big mean bad little mean good, me don't care bout rest me smart now. Have people even looked at pictures in the past? I've seen people go wow black women were so slim back wthen. Well even back then black women were considered fatter than their white counterparts. The obesity epidemic thing has been mentioned for a while the same statistics same material being presented seems like nothing has changed, that should tickle people's brains right there but it hasn't. I totally agree about "epidemic" if it were an "epidemic" as to the extreme as it's being presented shouldn't every group be dissected the same, since epidemic mean widespread issue? I'm aware of the age old black girl fat stat, it shifts ever so often like a lava lamp lol **smh**

[sister power]

01:53 AM on 12/12/2011

Black women are too busy taking care of their responsiblities and business to be so self absorbed. And me as a Big, Beautiful, Black Woman I love myself and could care less what someone thinks I should look like. I love my curves and I know not to get too big because it is unhealthy, but after giving birth to 5 children and being 40 something, I love myself instead of looking for someone to love me. My Faith in God thru Jesus the Christ has giving me this mentality. And thats what FAT WHITE WOMEN ARE MISSING, SELF-LOVE!!!

[Vondrazy Priest]

01:57 PM on 12/13/2011

Gone with your bad self!!!!! That's what I'm talking about. The day you start to worry about what others think is the day the devil will move in on you and take over!

[Lady205]

03:02 PM on 12/15/2011

Positive body image and self love is what motivates people to make changes, it makes them think "Damn I love myself so much I can be even better" I've seen it time and time again. Specialist should know this because they often say it themselves. Less stress mentality, less depression, less inactive lifestyle common sense.That's why I don't understand the contradiction with subjects like these. Also wanted to point out how it's acceptable in one culture and less of stigma when encouraging underweight or lack of eating. Anorexia is a huge issue as well but it's not as bashed and highlighted as bulimia, binge eating and obesity. Both issues a detriment to health but one is still glamorized (modeling industry anyone?). Supports my theory of superfically motivated approaches. Well I'm done now everyone have a blessed day!!!