An Experimental Test of the Effects of a Target Person's Body Weight and Engagement with Health Behaviours on Perceptions of Overall Health

Abstract

Public health campaigns commonly emphasise the association between excess weight and poor health. The present study aimed to examine the effect of information about weight and engagement with health behaviours on judgements of a person's health. In two experimental studies, participants were asked to evaluate a target person's health and to make recommendations about that person's health-related behaviours. In Study 1 (n=306), we manipulated the target's behaviours (healthy, unhealthy) and body weight (normal, overweight, obese); in Study 2 (n=192), we manipulated the behaviour of an overweight target (healthy, unhealthy). Study 1 found that the obese target was consistently rated as less healthy than the normal-weight target, whereas the overweight target was only rated as less healthy when her behaviours were unhealthy. Study 2 found that the overweight target's weight was viewed as being more harmful to her health when she engaged in unhealthy behaviours. Recommendations to lose weight were most common for the obese targets (with healthy or unhealthy behaviours), and for the overweight target with unhealthy behaviours. Whereas obesity appears to be viewed as harmful to health independent of health behaviours, the extent to which overweight is perceived as harmful depends on the overweight individual's diet and exercise behaviours.