UNSW Sydney, Australia.
Appl Psychol Health Well Being. 2019 Jul;11(2):240-261. doi: 10.1111/aphw.12151. Epub 2018 Nov 22.
Public health campaigns commonly emphasise the association between excess weight and poor health. The present study aimed to examine the effect of information about weight and engagement with health behaviours on judgements of a person's health.
In two experimental studies, participants were asked to evaluate a target person's health and to make recommendations about that person's health-related behaviours. In Study 1 (n = 306), we manipulated the target's behaviours (healthy, unhealthy) and body weight (normal, overweight, obese); in Study 2 (n = 192), we manipulated the behaviour of an overweight target (healthy, unhealthy).
Study 1 found that the obese target was consistently rated as less healthy than the normal-weight target, whereas the overweight target was only rated as less healthy when her behaviours were unhealthy. Study 2 found that the overweight target's weight was viewed as being more harmful to her health when she engaged in unhealthy behaviours. Recommendations to lose weight were most common for the obese targets (with healthy or unhealthy behaviours), and for the overweight target with unhealthy behaviours.
Whereas obesity appears to be viewed as harmful to health independent of health behaviours, the extent to which overweight is perceived as harmful depends on the overweight individual's diet and exercise behaviours.
公共卫生运动通常强调超重与健康状况不佳之间的关联。本研究旨在检验有关体重的信息和参与健康行为对一个人健康状况判断的影响。
在两项实验研究中，参与者被要求评估目标人物的健康状况，并就该人的健康相关行为提出建议。在研究 1（n=306）中，我们操纵了目标人物的行为（健康、不健康）和体重（正常、超重、肥胖）；在研究 2（n=192）中，我们操纵了超重目标的行为（健康、不健康）。
研究 1 发现，肥胖目标始终被评为不如正常体重目标健康，而超重目标只有在她的行为不健康时才被评为不如正常体重目标健康。研究 2 发现，当超重目标从事不健康的行为时，她的体重被认为对她的健康更有害。对于肥胖目标（无论行为健康与否）和行为不健康的超重目标，建议减肥的情况最为常见。
虽然肥胖似乎独立于健康行为被视为对健康有害，但超重被认为是有害的程度取决于超重个体的饮食和运动行为。
