Obesity and Stigmatization in American Media

Contrary to popular belief, the Whites (76. 1%) were mostly the focus of media stories on obesity with Blacks (14. 4%) coming at a distant second and the Latinos (6. 7%) being third (Varava, 2016). Varava researched with the aim of showing the public that the media was responsible for perpetuating stigma about obesity mostly in their news stories. It was also discovered that overweight people were often shown engaging in physical activities while those of average weight were depicted as experts in various fields. It was also found that media house did not accurately highlight how racial differences factored in obesity cases as the minorities were frequently highlighted as overweight. On average, black people were the focus of stories touching on obesity while Whites were regularly underscored in stories on health issues.