Ashton Garrison was already troubled by death at the age of seven. The idea was introduced to her by her doctor. Garrison, who is now 14 years old, said of the man, “He said obese kids become fat grownups and eventually they die.
Several other reliable people emphasized the link between obesity and mortality. According to Garrison, a weight-loss camp counselor gave her and other campers a detailed account of a young lady who committed herself because of her size.
Garrison’s friends, who teased her for having a larger physique and a greater personality, offered little solace. She remarked, “That made the agony worse.” Garrison claimed she hoped she could use scissors to remove her fat and pleaded with her mother for surgery.
According to a survey released on Tuesday, bigotry and discrimination against young people based only on their looks also negatively affects the economy and young people like Garrison, a high school freshman from Hazel Park, Michigan.
According to a research conducted by the Dove Self-Esteem Project in partnership with the Harvard Chan School of Public Health and others, approximately $800 billion is wasted annually as a result of discrimination based on appearance and body dissatisfaction.
More specifically, according to the survey, problems with body image may increase healthcare expenses by increasing the need to treat eating disorders and depression as well as decreased productivity at work.
The Strategic Training Initiative for the Prevention of Eating Disorders (STRIPED) at Harvard and Boston Children’s Hospital was founded by Dr. S. Bryn Austin. “What many people don’t realize is that there’s any cost to this, because often people just think of beauty as ephemeral or a superficial kind of concern,” she told Insider. The general consensus is that it “not really [could] have such a lasting influence that it might harm our economy.”
However, in actuality, the expenses are “greater than what we perceive the cost is for inattentive driving or underage drinking by children,” according to Austin.
According to the study, prejudice based only on looks costs us $501 yearly.
Austin, economist at Deloitte Access Economics, and an expert advisory panel compiled the research literature on both appearance-based discrimination based on body size and skin tone, as well as body dissatisfaction (a severe and persistent sensation about your appearances).
Then, using the same techniques academics use to forecast other expenditures, including the cost of gun violence, they performed economic calculations to determine the costs to the economy.
According to the study, body dissatisfaction costs $301 billion yearly, which is enough to pay for 2.9 million girls’ room and board while they attend college.
“If someone is experiencing body dissatisfaction severely enough to be showing up in our calculations, they may have a greater chance of getting depression or anxiety or an eating problem,” Austin said, adding that these conditions may be costly to treat.
The survey also concluded that discrimination against people based on their looks costs the US $501 billion yearly, which is enough to pay for two-thirds of the country’s out-of-pocket medical expenses.
“If a person applies for a job and is seen as having a bigger physique than average, they will not be hired. Darker complexion tones are not getting recruited for jobs. They may be employed but paid less, “explained Austin.
Children with darker complexion also experience harsher punishment, which, according to the author, “reduces the likelihood that they will graduate and reduces the likelihood that they will pursue further education.” And not only that person and their family, but also companies and our society as a whole, are negatively impacted by this.
Austin said that the country has to continue to “chip away at the subtle impacts of diet culture,” for example by prohibiting the sale of weight-loss drugs to children, and that legislation against weight and hair discrimination may assist defend against these losses.
Garrison said that having larger Black bodies be more visible had benefited her mental health.
Garrison said that due to how other people see her physique and messages in popular culture about who is deserving of happiness and love, she has struggled with despair and an eating problem.
People who resemble her are often shown in films as “either an ugly stepsister, a hilarious obese best friend, or a lady whose relationship may be ripped apart due to weight increase,” according to Garrison. “When you see it, you start to think, “Well, why do I have to experience a great deal of grief just to find any romance in my life?” Just doesn’t seem fair, does it?”
Garrison, however, said that she has gained confidence over the years, in part because of her mother’s encouragement, a more sympathetic doctor who is assisting her in improving her relationship with food, and the rising visibility of people with diverse body types, colors, skills, and hairstyles.
Garrison said that she was “simply ecstatic” to see someone large and Black dancing and singing in Lizzo’s “Truth Hurts” music video. I learned what I can genuinely achieve and give to this world after seeing more Black role models of different body types, she said, adding that it “had a very tremendous influence on me and my personality.”