Puhl R M, Suh Y, Li X
Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity, Department of Human Development and Family Studies, University of Connecticut, Hartford, CT, USA.
Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity, University of Connecticut, Hartford, CT, USA.
Int J Obes (Lond). 2016 Aug;40(8):1320-4. doi: 10.1038/ijo.2016.49. Epub 2016 Mar 22.
The prevalence of weight discrimination in the United States has led to increasing calls for legal measures to address weight-based inequities on a broader scale. This study examined public support in 2014 and 2015 for three proposed laws prohibiting weight discrimination, and compared findings with public attitudes towards the same laws from 2011 to 2013. An online survey was completed by a diverse national sample of US adults (N=2411) in June-July of 2014 and 2015 to assess their support for anti-discrimination legislation. Public support increased for the anti-discrimination laws from 2014 to 2015, and at least 71% of participants expressed support for each of the laws in both years. Compared with public support documented in 2011-2013, there was a significant increase in support in 2014-2015 for legislation to extend disability protections to individuals with obesity and for laws that would include body weight in existing state civil rights statutes. Consistently, high levels of support (78%) were documented across this 5-year period for laws to address weight-based discrimination in employment. As public approval is a powerful catalyst motivating political will needed to make policy changes, these findings provide important insights and implications for advancing policy-level discourse about remedies for weight discrimination.
美国体重歧视现象的普遍存在，使得人们越来越多地呼吁采取法律措施，以更广泛地解决基于体重的不平等问题。本研究调查了2014年和2015年公众对三项拟议的禁止体重歧视法律的支持情况，并将研究结果与2011年至2013年公众对这些法律的态度进行了比较。2014年6月至7月以及2015年，来自美国不同地区的成年人群体（N = 2411）完成了一项在线调查，以评估他们对反歧视立法的支持程度。从2014年到2015年，公众对反歧视法律的支持有所增加，在这两年中，至少71%的参与者对每项法律都表示支持。与2011 - 2013年记录的公众支持情况相比，2014 - 2015年对将残疾保护扩展至肥胖者的立法以及将体重纳入现有州民权法规的法律的支持显著增加。在这5年期间，对于解决就业中基于体重的歧视的法律，始终有较高水平的支持（78%）。由于公众支持是推动政策变革所需政治意愿的强大催化剂，这些研究结果为推进关于体重歧视补救措施的政策层面讨论提供了重要的见解和启示。
