Fear of Fat

Fear of fat drives people with purging disorder to engage in extreme methods to rid their body of weight. Our social context creates and reinforces that fear by linking weight to health, beauty, moral character, and popularity. Multiple levels in our environment convey these messages, including mass media, peers, and family, and influence the likelihood of purging. Although these beliefs are widely held, they deviate from facts. Behaviors rather than body weight are the strongest determinant of health. The association between weight and beauty is highly subjective and malleable. There is no association between body weight and moral character. The majority of the U.S. population is not living in social isolation despite possessing body weights that deviate from the thin/muscular ideal. Interventions designed to improve healthy behaviors and reduce internalization of the thin ideal have demonstrated success in reducing purging, supporting the value of recognizing and rejecting fear of fat.