Epistemological and ethical assessment of obesity bias in industrialized countries

Although bias can lead to discrimination, the two concepts do not have the same meaning. Bias denotes a judgment without sufficient knowledge, while discrimination is the process by which two stimuli differing in a single aspect are responded to differently. Bias refers to attitudes while discrimination refers to a given behavior. Most often, these two terms evoke associations with race or gender. In such associations, one race or gender is seen to be superior to another. Popular culture has been inundated with biased attitudes toward obese individuals. These people are described as lazy, gluttonous, or stupid. Such attitudes give rise to jokes and sarcasm about overweight or obese individuals. The lack of will as the causal attribution for obesity and societal obsession with being thin has been central to the development of anti-fat bias [1]. It has been documented that overweight/obese individuals experience anti-fat bias and discrimination in their academic, family, social, healthcare, and employment settings [2]. Sadly, even children as young as three have been known to exhibit bias against overweight individuals even though they are not able to express properly their thought at that age [3]. Anti-fat obesity is of one of the most acceptable forms of bias [4].This paper adheres to Bernard Lonergan's cognitive theory in an attempt to reject the biases leading to an unbalanced understanding of obesity. We will demonstrate that such an understanding of obesity lacks epistemological and ethical validity. We also argue for framing obesity within an environmental model. Such a model makes a good arena to pose questions about biases that shape policy and government intervention personal discrimination against obese individuals and socioeconomic exclusion that increase risks for obesity. Following Lonergan's cognitive theory, we are challenged to raise questions about both the cognitive process through which obesity is perceived as a behavior change issue and the object