Over 40 per cent of overweight people have said that they are ridiculed or humiliated at least once a week.
The shocking statistic emerged as part of a study carried out by Slimming World, with those surveyed saying that this abuse includes being “insulted by shop assistants, ignored by bar staff, left out by friends, mocked by passers-by, ridiculed by the opposite sex and photographed by teenagers”.
It was also found that this criticism had led to“depression, comfort eating and ultimately, weight gain”, with 63 per cent of respondents saying that they had gained weight since they had first been treated unkindly.
Those who had subsequently lost weight reported that their interactions with strangers had improved, with the survey finding that the serving time in bars for those who had lost weight was reduced down from nine minutes to three minutes.
