Girls Called 'Too Fat' Are More Likely To Become Obese, Study Finds

[JI7]

Calling a girl "too fat" may increase her chances of being obese in the future, new research suggests.

In a letter published Monday in JAMA Pediatrics, researchers at UCLA report that 10-year-old girls who are told they are too fat by people that are close to them are more likely to be obese at 19 than girls who were never told they were too fat.

And that's regardless of what they weighed at the beginning of the study.

"Making people feel bad about their weight can backfire," said Janet Tomiyama, an assistant professor of psychology at UCLA and the study's senior author. "It can be demoralizing. And we know that when people feel bad, they often reach out to food for comfort."

http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-girls-too-fat-obese-20140428,0,4057459.story

not sure why only girls were part of this study. but i'm guessing results might be same for boys .

[laundry_queen]

1. This was true for me.

From the time I was 4 my mother made comments about my weight. At first it was just, 'look at your belly, you have a gut like your dad' but then as I got older, it was constant. I was a big girl...not fat but very muscular and big boned. I was super athletic and very strong (in high school I could bench as much as many of the guys, and I could leg press more than any of them) but my mom kept calling me fat. She was very small boned and slender and was teased for being skinny so I suppose she thought it was alright to call me fat...I dunno. She did the same to my brother. He also ended up with weight problems. Both of us actually have physical issues that cause us to have a hard time losing weight (he's extremely hypothyroid - it went undiagnosed for a long time and it affected his heart...very dangerous) and I have insulin resistance and PCOS, as well as many years on anti-depressants. To make matters worse, our mom also rewarded us with food when she felt it was okay, but then shamed us when she didn't want us to eat something. For instance, if she had a craving, she'd take us with her so she had someone to indulge with...but if we brought junk food home after work (as teens) she would go on and on about how disgusting we were, and if we didn't watch it we'd end up fat.

Our parents were also extremely bigoted towards fat people (still are...) and constantly pointed out fat people and put them down. They made comments constantly that basically insinuated that fat people did not deserve to be loved because they were disgusting.

It would take me hours to go on about all that they said about not just fat people, but anyone who wasn't rail thin. They would watch fashion shows and critique runway models' physiques. 'nough said. My dad recently called me an idiot for not being able to slim down. Also not helpful.

One thing I want to mention that was said in the article, about how it's important to focus on the health aspect - that can backfire too. Kids aren't dumb. My mom also used the 'we have to eat healthy' to fat shame me. However, if you've never talked about weight with your kids, and just DO the healthy thing by example that makes a difference.

Also don't discount the power of genetics. I know people here poopoo genetics and weight, but one of these days I'm going to scan pictures of my first 2 daughters at the age of 6 months when they were still only breastfed. The genetics between those 2 is obvious. One was ALWAYS thin despite eating tons, and the other younger one was always thick (and strong like I was) and now outweights her older sister by about 30 lbs, despite being the 'jock' and a picky eater. My ex and I have totally stayed away from any weight discussions. I don't want any of our daughters to deal with the same issues with weight and food that I do.

[eShirl]

2. yep. anorexic older sibling nagged/harassed me constantly

[B Calm]

3. What happens when they are called too skinny?

[Gary Garrison]

4. I don't think the effect would be the same

Because the reason why girls gain weight after being called fat is that people tend to eat as a way to cope with sadness, stress, etc.
Being called too this or too that is reason to get sad or stressed out for many people.

A person being called skinny would probably not eat less when being called "too skinny."

[Neoma]

5. I was the too skinny one.

Generally it was B-12 deficiency and one of the symptoms is a lack of appetite. But I would not say that being called too skinny did nothing to me. There were times where I quit eating in the, "why bother? Never works anyways" way. Not everyone's reaction to stress is over-eating. Sometimes it's not eating at all.

[JI7]

6. true, although i think fat is criticized more than being thin

and in ways where it's more cruel sometimes.

this study in the op was in response to those who were claiming shaming and attacking people for being fat was a solution to get them to lose weight.