Americans` views of obesity changing

By Megan Brooks

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A survey of Americans suggests a shift in perception toward obesity, from a personal problem to a community problem related to food and inactivity.

The findings were presented today in Boston during Obesity Week 2014, hosted by the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS) and The Obesity Society (TOS).

"Despite the high prevalence of obesity in the U.S. and worldwide, weight bias and stigma continue to complicate clinical and policy approaches to obesity treatment," study author Ted Kyle, of ConscienHealth in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, said in a conference statement. "The goal of our study was to measure any shifts that might affect or result from public policy changes."

In an online survey conducted in 2013 and 2014, Kyle and colleagues asked a representative sample of 54,111 U.S. adults and 5,024 doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals whether they viewed obesity primarily as a personal problem of bad choices, a community problem of bad food and inactivity, or a medical problem.

The results, said Kyle, point to a "significant shift in perceptions of obesity in 2014, with the percent of Americans seeing obesity as a community problem increasing as much as 13% and the percent of healthcare professionals increasing 18%."

"Surprisingly," he said, the percentage of healthcare professionals who view obesity as a medical problem actually fell between 2013 and 2014. "This trend bears watching," Kyle said in the statement.

He told Reuters Health, "The trend toward slightly fewer healthcare professionals viewing obesity primarily as a medical problem is worth noting, but not a cause for alarm. What's more important is the increasing acknowledgment that obesity is a community problem of shared risks. The truth is that both medical and community factors are important. Personal blame and shame are less important and less helpful. So it's great that the personal blame is going down."

Younger and higher-income respondents were more likely to see obesity as a community problem; older respondents were more likely view it as a medical problem; and men and rural respondents were more likely view it as a personal problem of bad choices.

"Obesity is one of the most complex, chronic medical conditions and successful treatment often requires the support and care of healthcare professionals," said Dr. Rebecca Puhl, Deputy Director at Yale University's Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity, in a statement on behalf of The Obesity Society.

Dr. Puhl said these trends are "encouraging because they suggest a shift away from simplistic, biased views that focus on personal blame. The more that people recognize shared risks for obesity, the more likely they are to support evidence-based approaches to reducing obesity's impact."

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