Canadian Obesity Network calls for media to consider how obesity is portrayed

A recent survey found 86% of Canadians believe that lifestyle choices concerning diet and physical activity are the leading cause of obesity; 55% also said that they thought people living with obesity did not have self-discipline, according to a press release from the organization.

“We want to work with the media to encourage a shift from the use of imagery that depicts people living with obesity in a negative light, to one that looks at the whole picture,” Arya Sharma, MD, FRCPC, founder and scientific director of the Canadian Obesity Network, said in the release. “These body-focused images can perpetuate negative stereotypes and don’t accurately reflect the whole person, a person who has a life, accomplishments and who is living with a chronic disease versus what many people wrongly assume, a lifestyle choice.”