Teenagers feel awkward in the company of fat people, the first study of adolescents' attitudes towards obesity has found.
Some of the Dublin teenagers surveyed said they regarded being fat as "a disability" and would be embarrassed to sit alongside an obese person on a bus, according to findings presented at the Psychological Society of Ireland annual conference in Killarney, Co Kerry, yesterday.
This attitude was partly due to fear of being associated with the obese person and being discriminated against themselves, according to UCD PhD student Aoife Menton.
Ms Menton said her main finding was there was "huge discrimination" against obesity and obese people. Her findings are based on the responses of more than 1,500 teenagers between the ages of 15 and 17 in Dublin county and city over the past year.
The survey included focus groups of 28 males and 27 female students. About a fifth of the respondents were underweight, while a third were overweight or obese. When asked what came to mind when they heard the word obesity, 11 per cent replied "McDonalds".
Many felt the media made it socially acceptable to ridicule fat people, and obese people were teased and bullied as well as isolated. "Students have a very good understanding of why someone is obese," Ms Menton said.
Despite knowing that the condition might have a medical or psychological basis and having a thorough grasp of the complex nature of being overweight, they still felt it was down to personal responsibility.
Parents too came in for blame - it was up to them to ensure their children were eating healthily and taking exercise - the teenagers felt. There was an "anti-fat" bias in society here, the study found.
"Attitudes towards obesity held by adolescents are negative and stereotypical, further emphasising the stigma faced by obese persons in Irish society today," Ms Menton concluded.