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Disney exhibit closes after outrage over portrayal of obesity

Lead Bottom, one of the characters in the controversial exhibit Habit Heroes at Disneyworld. The exhibit has since closed after online outrage.

Disneyworld is under fire for a new exhibit that was designed to encourage kids to make healthy choices, but a lot of people say the exhibit is insensitive.

The exhibit is in Disney's Epcot theme park, known for its educational attractions.

But some say the Habit Heroes attraction won't teach kids anything except how to bully overweight children.

It featured buff superheroes, named Will Power and Callie Stenics, while the bad guys include The Glutton, plus other obese characters like Snacker and Lead Bottom.

Habit Heroes opened less than a month ago, but after public outrage online Disney has now closed the attraction.

The Canadian Obesity Network says it never should have existed in the first place.

“It reinforces all the stereotypes that people who are obese are lazy, don't move, need a kick in the butt to get active, need to get their act together,” says Dr. Arya Sharma, Scientific Director at the Canadian Obesity Network, “and (they) can be shamed and blamed for not doing it.”

Sharma says obesity is a complex chronic disease.

Factors that can play a role in obesity include, using food as an emotional coping strategy, taking certain medications, and genetics.

“There are a lot of people who have excess weight,” Sharma tells Global News, “who eat as healthy or unhealthy as other people. There are a lot of people who have excess weight who exercise regularly.”

Experts say what's most upsetting about the exhibit is that it targets children.

Marty Enokson says just seeing the pictures brought back terrible memories for him.

“You know, fat people, fat children are not allowed to wish upon a star because you have bad habits and that's what it's saying to me.”

Enokson says he was bullied as a child because of his weight and became addicted to food.

He recently took part in a ‘Perfect at any size’ photoshoot for the Canadian Obesity Network to help promote positive images of overweight people rather than what we usually see.

“It's the one thing that you can still make fun of quite openly. Watch any TV show that's out there and there's a fat character and they're always making fun of the fat character,” says Enokson.

In an email to Global News, Disney states the goal of the exhibit was to “convey a positive message about healthy lifestyles in a fun and empowering way".

The exhibit will be adjusted and re-opened.

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