‘You Owe It to Yourself, Everyone You Love and to Our Beleaguered NHS to Get Yourself Fit and Well’: Weight Stigma in the British Media during the COVID-19 Pandemic—A Thematic Analysis
The portrayal of obesity in the media can impact public health by guiding peoples’ behaviours and furthering stigma. Individual responsibility for body weight along with negative portrayals of obesity have frequently dominated UK media discourses on obesity. This study aims to explore how the media...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2021-12-01
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| Series: | Social Sciences |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/10/12/478 |
| _version_ | 1797500580349870080 |
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| author | Camila Carbone-Moane Andrew Guise |
| author_facet | Camila Carbone-Moane Andrew Guise |
| author_sort | Camila Carbone-Moane |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The portrayal of obesity in the media can impact public health by guiding peoples’ behaviours and furthering stigma. Individual responsibility for body weight along with negative portrayals of obesity have frequently dominated UK media discourses on obesity. This study aims to explore how the media has represented obesity during the COVID-19 pandemic through a thematic analysis of 95 UK online newspaper articles published in <i>The Sun</i>, <i>The Mail Online</i>, and <i>The Guardian</i>. The first theme, lifestyle recommendations, accounts for media coverage providing ‘expert’ advice on losing weight. The second theme, individual responsibility, emphasises media appeals to self-governance to tackle obesity and protect the NHS during the pandemic. The third theme, actors of change, explores how celebrities and politicians are presented as examples of weight management. These results suggest that individuals are held responsible for their weight and accountable for protecting the NHS during the COVID-19 pandemic. Stigma can be furthered by the decontextualisation of lifestyle recommendations and exacerbated by the actors of change presented: Celebrity profiles reveal gendered goals for weight management, and politicians exemplify self-governance, which consolidates their power. In conclusion, individualising and stigmatising discourses around obesity have taken new forms during the pandemic that link health responsibility to protecting the NHS and invokes celebrities and politicians to foster action. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T03:05:51Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-81e24f7e7a4d4a1c86cbd81c510b5d8c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-0760 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T03:05:51Z |
| publishDate | 2021-12-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Social Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-81e24f7e7a4d4a1c86cbd81c510b5d8c2023-11-23T10:34:16ZengMDPI AGSocial Sciences2076-07602021-12-01101247810.3390/socsci10120478‘You Owe It to Yourself, Everyone You Love and to Our Beleaguered NHS to Get Yourself Fit and Well’: Weight Stigma in the British Media during the COVID-19 Pandemic—A Thematic AnalysisCamila Carbone-Moane0Andrew Guise1Independent Researcher, London W2 6DR, UKDepartment of Population Health Sciences, King’s College London, London SE1 9RT, UKThe portrayal of obesity in the media can impact public health by guiding peoples’ behaviours and furthering stigma. Individual responsibility for body weight along with negative portrayals of obesity have frequently dominated UK media discourses on obesity. This study aims to explore how the media has represented obesity during the COVID-19 pandemic through a thematic analysis of 95 UK online newspaper articles published in <i>The Sun</i>, <i>The Mail Online</i>, and <i>The Guardian</i>. The first theme, lifestyle recommendations, accounts for media coverage providing ‘expert’ advice on losing weight. The second theme, individual responsibility, emphasises media appeals to self-governance to tackle obesity and protect the NHS during the pandemic. The third theme, actors of change, explores how celebrities and politicians are presented as examples of weight management. These results suggest that individuals are held responsible for their weight and accountable for protecting the NHS during the COVID-19 pandemic. Stigma can be furthered by the decontextualisation of lifestyle recommendations and exacerbated by the actors of change presented: Celebrity profiles reveal gendered goals for weight management, and politicians exemplify self-governance, which consolidates their power. In conclusion, individualising and stigmatising discourses around obesity have taken new forms during the pandemic that link health responsibility to protecting the NHS and invokes celebrities and politicians to foster action.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/10/12/478obesitystigmaCOVID-19online newsmedia analysis |
| spellingShingle | Camila Carbone-Moane Andrew Guise ‘You Owe It to Yourself, Everyone You Love and to Our Beleaguered NHS to Get Yourself Fit and Well’: Weight Stigma in the British Media during the COVID-19 Pandemic—A Thematic Analysis Social Sciences obesity stigma COVID-19 online news media analysis |
| title | ‘You Owe It to Yourself, Everyone You Love and to Our Beleaguered NHS to Get Yourself Fit and Well’: Weight Stigma in the British Media during the COVID-19 Pandemic—A Thematic Analysis |
| title_full | ‘You Owe It to Yourself, Everyone You Love and to Our Beleaguered NHS to Get Yourself Fit and Well’: Weight Stigma in the British Media during the COVID-19 Pandemic—A Thematic Analysis |
| title_fullStr | ‘You Owe It to Yourself, Everyone You Love and to Our Beleaguered NHS to Get Yourself Fit and Well’: Weight Stigma in the British Media during the COVID-19 Pandemic—A Thematic Analysis |
| title_full_unstemmed | ‘You Owe It to Yourself, Everyone You Love and to Our Beleaguered NHS to Get Yourself Fit and Well’: Weight Stigma in the British Media during the COVID-19 Pandemic—A Thematic Analysis |
| title_short | ‘You Owe It to Yourself, Everyone You Love and to Our Beleaguered NHS to Get Yourself Fit and Well’: Weight Stigma in the British Media during the COVID-19 Pandemic—A Thematic Analysis |
| title_sort | you owe it to yourself everyone you love and to our beleaguered nhs to get yourself fit and well weight stigma in the british media during the covid 19 pandemic a thematic analysis |
| topic | obesity stigma COVID-19 online news media analysis |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/10/12/478 |
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