Overweight Characters Research Articles

Real women have (just the right) curves: investigating anti-thin bias in college women.

Weight stigma is associated with negative mental and physical health outcomes across the body mass index (BMI) continuum. However, few studies have examined discrimination experienced by people with low body weights. This study explored the presence of anti-thin bias, defined as the belief that individuals at lower body weights have undesirable personality characteristics, in young adult women. Additionally, we examined perceived etiology of weight for women with underweight. Participants (N =295women, age 18.84± 2.32) were randomly assigned to read one of the six vignettes about women who differed by race (White and Black) and BMI status (slightly underweight, average weight, and slightly overweight). Negative personality characteristics were more likely to be ascribed to vignette characters with under- or overweight BMIs, compared to characters with average weight BMIs. Participants were more likely to attribute underweight characters' body weight to an eating disorder (ED) compared with average or overweight characters. Results suggest that women with under- or overweight BMIs experience greater stigmatization for their body weight than women with average BMIs, underscoring the need for research to investigate weight discrimination across the weight spectrum. Level I, experimental study.

Nothing alien about it: A comparison of weight bias in preschool-aged children’s ratings of non-human cartoons and human figures

Media exposes children to weight biased messaging by presenting overweight characters negatively. Although bias against human figures and human characters has been examined, children’s bias against non-human animated characters is unstudied. Children’s (N=60; 4–6 years old) weight bias against human and non-human characters was measured. Children saw characters of different weights (thin, overweight), genders (girl, boy), and stimuli type (human-line drawing, human-photo, non-human cartoon), and rated them using positive and negative characteristics. ANOVAs and t-tests examined weight bias based on mean ratings of each character. Overweight figures were rated more negatively than non-overweight figures overall, regardless of gender or type of stimulus. Further, mean ratings of the non-human cartoon were significantly less positive than ratings of both the line drawings and photographs of human figures. However, there was no interaction of stimulus type and weight status, suggesting that bias is expressed equally against human and non-human overweight figures. Results indicated that children’s negative weight bias extends to non-human cartoon figures. Implications for children’s media are discussed.

Measuring Extremes: A Quantitative Content Analysis of Prime Time TV Depictions of Body Type

The current content analysis examined representations of body type on prime time television. A composite week of U.S. television was randomly sampled, yielding 1,254 characters in 89 programs. Character attributes also were evaluated. Results suggest that women have become increasingly thin on TV. Thinner characters were more attractive than overweight characters. The few obese and overweight characters presented were less articulate, less intelligent, and more likely to be ridiculed than thinner characters. Black characters on prime time were heavier than other racial/ethnic groups and these characters were seen as more likeable. Implications are discussed from social cognitive theory and cultivation theory perspectives.

Weight-related humor in the media: Appreciation, distaste, and anti-fat attitudes.

One of the few stigmatized conditions still considered “fair game” for public joking and ridicule is obesity. The standard for TV and film comedies is to show overweight characters in a stereotypical and disparaging manner. The body of research on disparaging humor has not yet sought to determine viewers’ attitudes toward weight-related humor. Of primary interest in the present study was whether reactions to humor vary systematically with viewers’ preexisting attitudes toward obesity. Participants (N 501) viewed 7 video clips from popular film and TV programs featuring weight-related humor. Participants then rated each clip on a number of dimensions (e.g., funniness, offensiveness). Additionally they completed measures of attitudes and beliefs toward obesity including dislike for obese persons, belief in the controllability of body weight, and a belief in stereotypes about obese persons. As predicted, participants’ dislike for obese persons and their belief in disparaging stereotypes about obesity are associated with higher levels of weight-related humor appreciation. Additionally, a stronger belief in disparaging stereotypes about obesity and a belief in the controllability of obesity are negatively related to individuals’ level of distaste for weight-related humor. These findings support the empirical basis of disparagement humor theory and the disposition theory of humor appreciation. They can also inform research on the stigma of obesity and representations of stigmatized groups in the media.

Portrayal of body weight on children's television sitcoms: A content analysis

Television programs portray characters with idealized body types that for most viewers are unattainable. These body types have become a common source of comparison for many young viewers who evaluate their own self-worth and bodies based on the models they see on television. This study examines body weight, both in terms of frequency and portrayals, focusing on how preadolescent and adolescent characters’ bodies are presented on the sitcoms from three children's television networks. The results indicate that while children's situation comedies have relatively few overweight characters, this small percentage closely parallels national figures. Male and female characters do not differ in their distribution across weight categories. However, when character ethnicity is factored, significant shifts occur. Surprisingly, no differences were observed in the portrayal of physical and mental attributes among weight categories except in social popularity where overweight characters were not as embedded in social networks. Compared to other relevant studies, this research provides some evidence that the treatment and portrayal of overweight characters in children-targeted sitcoms is more positive, equitable, and less stereotypical than in other programming venues and that children are experiencing body type diversity in these fictional portrayals. Nonetheless, above average weight characters still suffer some social marginality and ethnic misrepresentation.

Fast and Sweet: Nutritional Attributes of Television Food Advertisements With and Without Black Characters

This study describes a content analysis of food advertisements featured in television programming popular with children. Advertisements featuring no Black primary characters were compared on the basis of character and food attributes with ads featuring at least one Black primary character. Advertised foods were then analyzed for the compliance of their nutritional content with the federal government's recommended daily values (RDVs) of select nutrients. Analyses revealed notable differences between ads depicting Black characters and ads without Black characters. Compared with ads without Black characters, ads with Black characters were more likely to sell convenience foods, especially fast foods, yet less likely to feature overweight characters. Ads without Black characters, in contrast, were more likely to sell foods high in sugar. Overall there were few differences in the nutritional breakdown of foods advertised in ads with and without Black characters, mainly because both types of ads tended to sell nutritionally unbalanced foods. A 2,000-calorie diet of foods advertised in both types of ads would exceed RDVs of total fat, saturated fat, and sodium, yet fail to provide RDVs of fiber and certain vitamins and minerals.

Thin is “in” and stout is “out”: What animated cartoons tell viewers about body weight

Relying upon a content analysis of one specific type of medium to which young people are exposed beginning at an early age, on a regular basis, and for many years (i.e., animated cartoons), the present study examines what types of messages are provided about being underweight, overweight and normal weight. This research examines the following issues: (1) How prevalent is weight-related content in animated cartoons? (2) Has this prevalence changed over time? (3) What "types" of characteristics tend to be associated with being thinner-than-normal or heavier-than normal? Results indicate that the prevalence of both underweight and overweight characters has changed dramatically over the course of the past several decades. These relationships are both curvilinear in nature, but in recent decades have demonstrated a significant increase in the proportion of all cartoons showing characters that are underweight and a simultaneous decrease in the prevalence of characters that are overweight. Many variables were found to differ based on cartoon characters' body weight including gender, age, intelligence, physical attractiveness, emotional states experienced, prosocial behaviors, antisocial behaviors, and overall goodness/badness. Whenever differences were found, the overriding tendency was for cartoons to provide positive messages about being thin and negative messages about being overweight.