Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dzt6s Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T13:47:04.615Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

14 - Understanding Body Respect As a Social Justice Issue for Young People

from Part II - International Social Justice Issues That Have an Impact on Children and Young People

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 September 2020

By
Sigrún Daníelsdóttir
Edited by
Caroline S. Clauss-Ehlers ,
Aradhana Bela Sood  and
Mark D. Weist
Caroline S. Clauss-Ehlers
Affiliation:
Rutgers University, New Jersey
Aradhana Bela Sood
Affiliation:
Virginia Commonwealth University
Mark D. Weist
Affiliation:
University of South Carolina
Get access

Summary

Research over the past fifty years has shown weight stigma to be a pervasive form of social prejudice that is found in nearly every aspect of children’s lives – in school, peer relations, the media, even their own homes – and yet weight stigma is often not recognized as a social justice issue for children. This chapter explores the prevalence and presentation of weight bias in youth and the consequences of growing up in an environment that does not recognize body diversity as a natural part of human diversity. Evidence suggests that being the target of weight-based prejudice and discrimination has serious and long-lasting consequences for children’s physical, social, and emotional health and well-being. While higher-weight children and adolescents undeniably bear the brunt of societal weight stigma, youth across the weight spectrum are negatively affected by a culture that idealizes thinness and condemns fatness. The prevalence of body image and eating concerns, weight-related teasing, and bullying among youth underscores the need for sociocultural change in values and views around body size. This chapter considers important intersections of weight, health, and social justice in youth, and concludes with a case example of structural efforts to promote body respect and equality.

Keywords

weight stigmasocial justiceyouth well-beingbody imageweight teasingbullying
Type
Chapter
Information
Social Justice for Children and Young People
International Perspectives
 , pp. 228 - 244
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Andreyeva, T., Puhl, R. M., & Brownell, K. D. (2008). Changes in perceived weight discrimination among Americans, 1995–1996 through 2004–2006. Obesity, 16, 1129–1134.Google Scholar
Association for Size Diversity and Health (n.d.). The Health at Every Size® approach. www.sizediversityandhealth.org/images/uploaded/ASDAH%20HAES%20Principles.pdf. Retrieved on October 17, 2018.Google Scholar
Ata, R. N., & Thompson, J. K. (2010). Weight bias in the media: A review of recent research. Obesity Facts, 3, 41–46.Google Scholar
Boero, N. (2007). All the news that’s fat to print: The American “obesity epidemic” and the media. Qualitative Sociology, 30, 41–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boero, N. (2009). Fat kids, working moms, and the “epidemic of obesity”: Race, class, and mother blame. In Rothblum, E & Solovay, S (eds.), The fat studies reader (pp. 113–119). New York: New York University Press.Google Scholar
Bombak, A. (2014). Obesity, Health at Every Size and public health policy. American Journal of Public Health, 104, e60–e67.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bradshaw, C. P., Waasdorp, T. E., O’Brennan, L. M., & Gulemetova, M. (2013). Teachers’ and education support professionals’ perspectives on bullying and prevention: Findings from a national education association study. School Psychology Review, 42, 280–297.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brown, R., & Lepore, L. (1995). Prejudice. In Manstead, A. S. R. & Hewstone, M (eds.), The Blackwell encyclopedia of social psychology (pp. 450–455). Oxford: Blackwell Publishers.Google Scholar
Burgard, D. (2009). What is “Health at Every Size?” In Rothblum, E & Solovay, S (eds.), The fat studies reader (pp. 42–53). New York: New York University Press.Google Scholar
Burmeister, J. M., Kiefner, A. E., Carels, R. A., & Musher-Eizenman, D. R. (2013). Weight bias in graduate school admissions. Obesity, 21, 918–920.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Damiano, S. R., Gregg, K. J., Spiel, E. C., et al. (2015). Relationships between body size attitudes and body image of 4-year-old boys and girls, and attitudes of their fathers and mothers. Journal of Eating Disorders, 3, 16.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Damiano, S., Paxton, S. J., Wertheim, E. H., McLean, S. A., & Gregg, K. J. (2015). Dietary restraint of 5-year-old girls: Associations with internalization of the thin ideal and maternal, media, and peer influences. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 48, 1166–1169.Google Scholar
Eisenberg, M. E., Neumark-Sztainer, D., & Story, M. (2003). Associations of weight-based teasing and emotional well-being among adolescents. Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, 157, 733–738.Google Scholar
Ferraro, K. F., & Kelley-Moore, J. A. (2003). Cumulative disadvantage and health: Long-term consequences of obesity? American Sociological Review, 68, 707–729.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fouts, G., & Burggraf, K. (2000). Television situation comedies: Female weight, male negative comments, and audience reactions. Sex Roles, 42, 925–932.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frederick, D. A., Saguy, A. C., & Gruys, K. (2016). Culture, health, and bigotry: How exposure to cultural accounts of fatness shape attitudes about health risk, health policies, and weight-based prejudice. Social Science & Medicine, 165, 271–279.Google Scholar
Fryar, C. D., Carroll, M. D., & Ogden, C. L. (2016). Prevalence of overweight and obesity among children and adolescents aged 2–19 years: United States, 1963–1965 through 2013–2014. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics.Google Scholar
Gard, M., & Wright, J. (2005). The obesity epidemic: Science, morality and ideology. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Gibson, L. Y., Allen, K. L., Davis, E., et al. (2017). The psychosocial burden of childhood overweight and obesity: Evidence for persisting difficulties in boys and girls. European Journal of Pediatrics, 176, 925–933.Google Scholar
Gillison, F. B., Lorenc, A. B., Sleddens, E. F. C., Williams, S. L., & Atkinson, L. (2016). Can it be harmful for parents to talk to their child about their weight? A meta-analysis. Preventive Medicine, 93, 135–146.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Greenberg, B. S., Eastin, M., Hofschire, L., Lachlan, K., & Brownell, K. D. (2003). Portrayals of overweight and obese individuals on commercial television. American Journal of Public Health, 93, 1342–1348.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Greenhalgh, S. (2016). Disordered eating/eating disorder: Hidden perils of the nation’s fight against fat. Medical Anthropology Quarterly, 30, 545–562.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Harriger, J. A., & Thompson, J. K. (2012). Psychological consequences of obesity: Weight bias and body image in overweight and obese youth. International Review of Psychiatry, 24, 247–253.Google Scholar
Heuer, C. A., McClure, K. J., & Puhl, R. M. (2011). Obesity stigma in online news: A visual content analysis. Journal of Health Communication, 0, 1–12.Google Scholar
Himes, S. M., & Thompson, J. K. (2007). Fat stigmatization in television shows and movies: A content analysis. Obesity, 15, 712–718.Google Scholar
Jendrzyca, A., & Warschburger, P. (2016). Weight stigma and eating behaviours in elementary school children: A prospective population-based study. Appetite, 102, 51–59.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kenney, E. L., Gortmaker, S. L., Davison, K. K., & Bryn Austin, S. (2015). The academic penalty for gaining weight: A longitudinal, change-in-change analysis of BMI and perceived academic ability in middle school students. International Journal of Obesity, 39, 1408–1413.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kihm, H. S. (2014). The Friendship Study: An examination of weight-based stigmatization during elementary and middle school years. Journal of Family and Consumer Sciences, 106, 37–44.Google Scholar
Klein, H., & Shiffman, K. S. (2005). Thin is “in” and stout is “out”: What animated cartoons tell viewers about body weight. Eating and Weight Disorders, 10, 107–116.Google Scholar
LaMarre, A., & Daníelsdóttir, S. (2019). Health at Every Size: A social justice-informed approach to embodiment. In Tyka, T & Piran, N (eds.), Handbook of positive body image and embodiment: Constructs, protective factors, and interventions (pp. 300–311). Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Latner, J. D., & Schwartz, M. B. (2005). Weight bias in a child’s world. In Brownell, K. D., Puhl, R. M., Schwartz, M. B., & Rudd, L (eds.), Weight bias: Nature, consequences, and remedies (pp. 54–67). New York: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Latner, J. D., & Stunkard, A. J. (2003). Getting worse: The stigmatization of obese children. Obesity Research, 11, 452–456.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Latner, J. D., Stunkard, A. J., & Wilson, G. T. (2005). Stigmatized students: Age, sex, and ethnicity effects in the stigmatization of obesity. Obesity, 13, 1226–1231.Google Scholar
McClure, K. J., Puhl, R. M., & Heuer, C. A. (2011). Obesity in the news: Do photographic images of obese persons influence antifat attitudes? Journal of Health Communication, 16, 359–371.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Meers, M. R., Koball, A. M., Wagner Oehlhof, M., Laurene, K. R., & Musher-Eizenman, D. R. (2011). Assessing anti-fat bias in preschoolers: A comparison of a computer generated line-drawn figure array and photographic figure array. Body Image, 8, 293–296.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nabors, L., Thomas, M., Vaughn, L., et al. (2011). Children’s attitudes about an overweight or non-overweight weight victim. Journal of Developmental and Physical Disabilities, 23, 87–98.Google Scholar
Neumark-Sztainer, D. (2011). Obesity and body image in youth. In Cash, T. F. & Smolak, L (eds.), Body image: A handbook of science, practice, and prevention (2nd edition) (pp. 180–188). New York: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Neumark-Sztainer, D., Bauer, K. W., Friend, S., et al. (2010). Family weight talk and dieting: How much do they matter for body dissatisfaction and disordered eating behaviors in adolescent girls? Journal of Adolescent Health, 47, 270–276.Google Scholar
Neumark-Sztainer, D., Falkner, N., Story, M., Perry, C., & Hannan, P. J. (2002). Weight-teasing among adolescents: Correlations with weight status and disordered eating behaviors. International Journal of Obesity, 26, 123–131.Google Scholar
Neumark-Sztainer, D., Paxton, S. J., Hannan, P. J., Haines, J., & Story, M. (2006). Does body satisfaction matter? Five-year longitudinal associations between body satisfaction and health behaviors in adolescent females and males. Journal of Adolescent Health, 39, 244–251.Google Scholar
Nutter, S., Russell-Mayhew, S., Alberga, A. S., et al. (2016). Positioning of weight bias: Moving towards social justice. Journal of Obesity, 1–10.Google Scholar
Nutter, S., Russell-Mayhew, S., Arthur, N., & Ellard, J. H. (2018). Weigh bias as a social justice issue: A call for dialogue. Canadian Psychology, 59, 89–99.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
O’Hara, L., & Taylor, J. (2018). What’s wrong with the “war on obesity”? A narrative review of the weight-centered health paradigm and development of the 3C framework to build critical competency for a paradigm shift. SAGE Open. 1-28. doi:10.1177/2158244018772888Google Scholar
O’Reilly, C., & Sixsmith, J. (2012). From theory to policy and practice: Reducing harms associated with the weight-centered paradigm. Fat Studies, 1, 97–113.Google Scholar
Pearl, R. L., & Puhl, R. M. (2014). Measuring internalized weight attitudes across body weight categories: Validation of the modified Weight Bias Internalization Scale. Body Image, 11, 89–92.Google Scholar
Pedersen, B. K., & Saltin, B. (2015). Exercise as medicine: Evidence for prescribing exercise as therapy in 26 different chronic diseases. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, 25, 1–72.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Public Health Agency of Canada (2011). Our health, our future: A national dialogue on healthy weights dialogue report. www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/health-promotion/healthy-living/health-future-national-dialogue-healthy-weights-dialogue-report.html. Retrieved on October 29, 2018.Google Scholar
Puhl, R. M., Andreyeva, T., & Brownell, K. D. (2008). Perceptions of weight discrimination: Prevalence and comparison to race and gender discrimination in America. International Journal of Obesity, 32, 992–1000.Google Scholar
Puhl, R. M., & Brownell, K. D. (2001). Bias, discrimination, and obesity. Obesity Research, 9, 788–805.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Puhl, R. M., & Heuer, C. A. (2009). The stigma of obesity: A review and update. Obesity, 17, 941–964.Google Scholar
Puhl, R. M., Heuer, C. A., & Brownell, K. D. (2010). Stigma and social consequences of obesity. In Kopelman, P. G., Caterson, I. D., & Dietz, W. H. (eds.), Clinical obesity in adults and children (3rd edition) (pp. 25–40). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley-Blackwell.Google Scholar
Puhl, R. M., & King, K. M. (2013). Weight discrimination and bullying. Best Practice & Research: Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, 27, 117–127.Google Scholar
Puhl, R. M., & Latner, J. D. (2007). Stigma, obesity, and the health of the nation’s children. Psychological Bulletin, 133, 557–580.Google Scholar
Puhl, R. M., Latner, J. D., O’Brien, K. O., Luedicke, J., Daníelsdóttir, S., & Forhan, M. (2015). A multinational examination of weight bias: Predictors of anti-fat attitudes across four countries. International Journal of Obesity, 39, 1166–1173.Google Scholar
Puhl, R. M., Latner, J. D., O’Brien, K. O., Luedicke, J., Daníelsdóttir, S., & Salas, X. R. (2015). Potential policies and laws to prohibit weight discrimination: Public views from 4 countries. Milbank Quarterly, 93, 691–673.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Puhl, R. M., Latner, J. D., O’Brien, K. O., Luedicke, J., Forhan, M., & Daníelsdóttir, S. (2015). Cross-national perspectives about weight-based bullying in youth: Nature, extent and remedies. Pediatric Obesity, 11, 241–250.Google Scholar
Puhl, R. M., Luedicke, J., & Heuer, C. A. (2011). Weight‐based victimization toward overweight adolescents: Observations and reactions of peers. Journal of School Health, 81, 696–703.Google Scholar
Puhl, R. M., Moss-Racusin, C. A., Schwartz, M. B., & Brownell, K. D. (2008). Weight stigmatization and bias reduction: Perspectives of overweight and obese adults. Health Education Research, 23, 347–358.Google Scholar
Puhl, R. M., Peterson, J. L., DePierre, J. A., & Luedicke, J. (2013). Headless, hungry, and unhealthy: A video content analysis of obese persons portrayed in online news. Journal of Health Communication, 18, 686–702.Google Scholar
Puhl, R., Peterson, J. L., & Luedicke, J. (2013). Fighting obesity or obese persons? Public perceptions of obesity-related health messages. International Journal of Obesity, 37, 774–782.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rankin, J., Matthews, L., Cobley, S., et al. (2016). Psychological consequences of childhood obesity: Psychiatric comorbidity and prevention. Adolescent Health, Medicine & Therapeutics, 7, 125–146.Google Scholar
Reykjavik City (2016). The City of Reykjavik’s human rights policy. https://reykjavik.is/en/city-of-reykjaviks-human-rights-policy. Retrieved on October 30, 2018.Google Scholar
Richardson, S. A., Goodman, N., Hastorf, A. H., & Dornbusch, S. M. (1961). Cultural uniformity in reaction to physical disabilities. American Sociological Review, 26, 241–247.Google Scholar
Robinson, B. E., Bacon, J. G., & O’Reilly, J. (1993). Fat phobia: Measuring, understanding, and changing anti-fat attitudes. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 14, 467–480.Google Scholar
Ruffman, T., O’Brien, K. S., Taumoepeau, M., Latner, J. D., & Hunter, J. A. (2016). Toddlers’ bias to look at average versus obese figures relates to maternal anti-fat prejudice. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 142, 195–202.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Saguy, A. C., & Almeling, R. (2008). Fat in the fire? Science, the news media, and the “obesity epidemic.” Sociological Forum, 23, 53–83.Google Scholar
Saguy, A. C., Frederick, D., & Gruys, K. (2014). Reporting risk, producing prejudice: How news reporting on obesity shapes attitudes about health risk, policy, and prejudice. Social Science & Medicine, 111, 125–133.Google Scholar
Saguy, A. C., & Riley, K. W. (2005). Weighing both sides: Morality, mortality, and framing contests over obesity. Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law, 30, 869–921.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sahoo, K., Sahoo, B., Choudhury, A. K., et al. (2015). Childhood obesity: Causes and consequences. Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care, 4, 187–192.Google Scholar
Schvey, N. A., & White, M. A. (2015). The internalization of weight bias is associated with severe eating pathology among lean individuals. Eating Behaviors, 17, 1–5.Google Scholar
Seligman, L. D., & Bechtoldt Baldacci, H. (2005). Vicarious punishment. In Hersen, M, Rosqvist, J, Gross, A. M., Drabman, R. S., Sugai, G, & Horner, R (eds.), Encyclopedia of behavior modification and cognitive behavior therapy (pp. 1085–1086). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Smolak, L. (2011). Body image development in childhood. In Cash, T. F. & Smolak, L (eds.), Body image: A handbook of science, practice, and prevention (2nd edition) (pp. 65–73). New York: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Spiel, E. C., Paxton, S. J., & Yager, Z. (2012). Weight attitudes in 3- to 5-year-old children: Age differences and cross-sectional predictors. Body Image, 9, 524–527.Google Scholar
Spiel, E. C., Rodgers, R. F., Paxton, S. J., et al. (2016). “He’s got his father’s bias”: Parental influence on weight bias in young children. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 34, 198–211.Google Scholar
Stice, E., Hayward, C., Cameron, R. P., Killen, J. D., & Taylor, C. B. (2000). Body image and eating disturbances predict onset of depression among female adolescents. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 109, 438–444.Google Scholar
Stice, E. & Shaw, H. E. (2002). Role of body dissatisfaction in the onset and maintenance of eating pathology: A synthesis of research findings. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 53, 985–993.Google Scholar
Strauss, R. S., & Pollack, H. A. (2003). Social marginalization of overweight children. Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, 57, 746–752.Google Scholar
Su, W., & Di Santo, A. (2012). Preschool children’s perceptions of overweight peers. Journal of Early Childhood Research, 1, 19–31.Google Scholar
Sutin, A. R., Robinson, E., Daly, M., & Terracciano, A. (2018). Perceived body discrimination and intentional self-harm and suicidal behavior in adolescence. Childhood Obesity. doi:10.1089/chi.2018.0096Google Scholar
Tatangelo, G., McCabe, M., Mellor, D., & Mealey, A. (2016). A systematic review of body dissatisfaction and sociocultural messages related to the body among preschool children. Body Image, 18, 86–95.Google Scholar
Teachman, B. A., Gapinski, K. D., Brownell, K. D., Rawlins, M., & Jeyaram, S. (2003). Demonstrations of implicit antifat bias: The impact of providing causal information and evoking empathy. Health Psychology, 22, 68–78.Google Scholar
Throop, E. M., Skinner, A. C., Perrin, A. J., et al. (2014). Pass the popcorn: “Obesogenic” behaviors and stigma in children’s movies. Obesity, 22, 1694–1700.Google Scholar
Tiggemann, M., & Anesbury, T. (2000). Negative stereotyping of obesity in children: The role of controllability beliefs. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 30, 1977–1993.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tomiyama, A. J., Finch, L. E., Belsky, A. C. I., et al. (2015). Weight bias in 2001 versus 2013: Contradictory attitudes among obesity researchers and health professionals. Obesity, 23, 46–53.Google Scholar
Tylka, T. L., Annunziato, R., Burgard, D., et al. (2014). The weight-inclusive vs. weight-normative approach to health: Evaluating the evidence for prioritizing well-being over weight loss. Journal of Obesity, 1–18. doi:10.1155/2014/983495Google Scholar
Wertheim, E. H., & Paxton, S. J. (2011). Body image development in adolescent girls. In Cash, T. F. & Smolak, L (eds.), Body image: A handbook of science, practice, and prevention (2nd edition) (pp. 76–92). New York: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
World Health Organization (1997). Obesity: Preventing and managing the global epidemic. Geneva: World Health Organization.Google Scholar
World Health Organization (n.d.). Health promoting schools. www.who.int/health-topics/health-promoting-schools Retrieved on October 30, 2018.Google Scholar
Zuba, A., & Warschburger, P. (2018). Weight bias internalization across weight categories among school-aged children: Validation of the Weight Bias Internalization Scale for Children. Body Image, 25, 56–65.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×