This article is from the WebMD Medical News Archive

May 18, 2006 -- We all harbor antiobesity bias -- even those of us who are, ourselves, overweight or obese.

And we're so afraid of being fat that we'd make tremendous sacrifices to avoid it, find Marlene B. Schwartz, PhD, associate director of Yale University's Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity, and colleagues.

As part of her online study of antiobesity bias, Schwartz asked lean, normal weight, and heavy people what they'd be willing to give up if only it would keep them -- or make them -- not obese.

"A surprising number of people would make significant sacrifices," Schwartz tells WebMD. "That is an indication of how aversive being obese is."

'Desperate' to Avoid Obesity

Among the 4,283 people who participated in Schwartz's online survey, in order not to be obese:

• 46% said they'd give up a year of life.
• 15% said they'd give up 10 years of life.
• 25% said they'd rather be unable to have children.
• 15% said they'd rather be clinically depressed.
• 14% said they'd rather be alcoholic.
• 5% said they'd give up a limb.
• 4% said they'd rather be blind.

Moreover, 10% of participants said they'd rather have an anorexic child than an obese child. Eight percent said they'd rather have a learning-disabled child than an obese child.

"It is easy to hypothetically say you would give something up, so I would take this with a grain of salt," Schwartz says. "But the fact they would even say it shows how desperate people are to avoid being obese."

Schwartz and colleagues report their findings in the current issue of the journal Obesity.

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