Obesity has an added effect on stress due to social stigma experienced by the obese. Read on to know more.

Team@CMHF

Doctors and nutritionists generally agree that obesity increases the risk of heart attack and stroke, certain kinds of cancer, Type 2 diabetes, and is associated with shortened life spans.
But research by Janet Tomiyama, assistant professor of psychology in Rutgers’ School of Arts and Sciences, suggests that the social stigma attached to being overweight also can make people sick.
Tomiyama and three co-authors at the University of California-San Francisco, where she was a postdoctoral researcher until last year, studied 42 pre-menopausal women who were overweight or obese, but otherwise healthy.
The researchers found that the more stigmatized their subjects felt, the higher their levels of the steroid hormone cortisol, which is produced by stress.
Women who felt deeply stigmatized for being overweight also suffered from increased oxidative stress – a marker of aging cells.
Just as exercise is an antidote to obesity, Tomiyama recommends exercise for someone suffering from weight stigma. “It makes you feel good, but it also makes you feel good about yourself,” she said.

Ref: http://www.newjerseynewsroom.com/healthquest/weight-stigma-can-make-you-sick-with-stress-exercise-is-the-best-remedy