Women who decide to lose weight still often face problems of stigma after shedding the pounds.

This fact was found by researchers from the University of Hawaii at Mānoa. A similar finding was also found by both the Universities of Monash and Manchester, which found obese women were still discriminated against even after losing weight. It was as if they were still perceived as fat by others.

One Mānoan University researcher, Dr. Janet Latner told reporters: “Previous research has shown that the harmful nature of obesity stigma crossed many domains. So we designed an experiment to look at whether obesity sting persisted once the weight had been dropped.”

Dr. Latner added: “We were surprised to find that currently thin women were viewed more differently depending on their weight history.

“We found that people who had lost weight were viewed more negatively in terms of attractiveness than people who had remained stable.”

Scientists are currently at a loss to explain the reasons for the negativity still felt towards women who have lost weight. The suggestion is that losing weight is easy to do.

“There are several theories as to why anti-fat stigma persists,” Latner said.

“The leading theory is controllability theory – suggesting that stigmatised conditions are despised more when they are perceived as easily controllable, a widespread perception about obesity.

“Our findings partly supported this theory by demonstrating that reading vignettes describing weight loss led to greater obesity stigma than reading vignettes describing weight stability.”

“The strength of obesity stigma is so powerful, pervasive and persistent,” Dr. Latner added.  “[Our results show] just how strong and harmful it can be. Many people are seeking weight loss to shake off the sting of obesity, and they may not necessarily achieve that.”

The research team has called on the US government to do more to intervene to stop prejudice and discrimination against obese and overweight people.