Obesity Stigma: Is the ‘Food Addiction’ Label Feeding the Problem?

• Main Authors: Helen K. Ruddock, Michael Orwin, Emma J. Boyland, Elizabeth H. Evans, Charlotte A. Hardman
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2019-09-01
• Series: Nutrients
• Subjects: food addiction; obesity; stigma; eating behavior; attitudes
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/11/9/2100

Obesity is often attributed to an addiction to high-calorie foods. However, the effect of &#8220;food addiction&#8221; explanations on weight-related stigma remains unclear. In two online studies, participants (<i>n</i> = 439, <i>n</i> = 523, respectively, recruited from separate samples) read a vignette about a target female who was described as &#8216;very overweight&#8217;. Participants were randomly allocated to one of three conditions which differed in the information provided in the vignette: (1) in the &#8220;medical condition&#8221;, the target had been diagnosed with food addiction by her doctor; (2) in the &#8220;self-diagnosed condition&#8221;, the target believed herself to be a food addict; (3) in the control condition, there was no reference to food addiction. Participants then completed questionnaires measuring target-specific stigma (i.e., stigma towards the female described in the vignette), general stigma towards obesity (both studies), addiction-like eating behavior and causal beliefs about addiction (Study 2 only). In Study 1, participants in the medical and self-diagnosed food addiction conditions demonstrated greater target-specific stigma relative to the control condition. In Study 2, participants in the medical condition had greater target-specific stigma than the control condition but only those with low levels of addiction-like eating behavior. There was no effect of condition on general weight-based stigma in either study. These findings suggest that the food addiction label may increase stigmatizing attitudes towards a person with obesity, particularly within individuals with low levels of addiction-like eating behavior.