NIH is inventing a new culture – obesogenic.
Via WFB
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is spending almost a half million dollars to determine what children think about fat characters in movies.
Children’s perceptions of “obesogenic” culture in films, or the promotion of excessive weight gain, is the subject of the $433,577 study being conducted by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
The researchers have concluded that children’s movies are confusing because they make fun of fat characters, while also promoting unhealthy behaviors like drinking soda and watching television.
“Children receive cultural messages about appropriate eating, exercise, and attitudes from a variety of influences, likely including family, friends, schools, religious institutions, and electronic culture (television, movies, and video games),” the grant explains. “One important source of culture in the world for children is children’s movies.”[…]
“These children’s movies offer a discordant presentation about food, exercise and weight status, glamorizing unhealthy eating and sedentary behavior yet condemning obesity itself,” said Eliana M. Perrin, MD, MPH, associate professor of pediatrics in the UNC School of Medicine and lead researcher for the NIH project.
The study found that many children’s movies contain “weight-based stigma” and had “significant ‘obesogenic’ content.”
The project is scheduled to continue until August of next year.