HMN 2025: How to keep away from weight stigma, meals {industry} messaging ought to take cues from anti-tobacco success

Researchers have proposed remodeling the narrative round ultra-processed meals by mirroring the methods which have efficiently reshaped public perceptions of tobacco. The work is published within the journal Obesity.

By spotlighting the aggressive ways of meals firms, advocates purpose to scale back younger adults‘ consumption of those addictive merchandise.

The new study unveiled that younger adults, aged 18 to 25, develop considerably detrimental attitudes towards the meals {industry} when uncovered to messages that spotlight its engineering and aggressive advertising of addictive, ultra-processed meals. This strategy takes inspiration from the acclaimed anti-tobacco “fact” campaigns, which have successfully held cigarette producers accountable with out blaming customers.

“We discovered that by specializing in {industry} ways quite than particular person decisions, we may change public perceptions with out exacerbating weight stigma,” mentioned University of Michigan psychologist Ashley Gearhardt, a contributing creator of the review.

Conducted in collaboration with Kathleen Good of Brown University, Lindsey Parnarouskis of Drexel University and Jenna Cummings of the University of Liverpool, the review concerned an ingenious experimental design.

Participants had been uncovered to totally different displays, every underscoring various features of meals consumption and {industry} practices. The outcomes revealed that even a short, one-minute presentation may considerably shift perceptions.

Significantly, the review signifies that emphasizing the addictive nature of merchandise and the meals {industry}’s manipulative methods can doubtlessly remodel younger adults’ attitudes with out stigmatizing particular person weight points. The researchers mentioned this framing strategy could domesticate better accountability for public well being harms wrought by company practices.

“The implications of this study are huge,” Gearhardt mentioned. “It opens the door to high-impact, expertly crafted public well being campaigns aimed on the meals {industry}, much like these we have seen with tobacco.”

The analysis holds promise for significant change and underscores the necessity for additional investigation into message framing that might bolster assist for impactful obesity-related insurance policies, Gearhardt says.