Tag: weight stigma

Categories : Metabolic DisordersTags :

Body Appreciation Varies Across Cultures

On By ModernMedia

Body appreciation levels are associated with internalisation of thin ideals and with sociocultural pressure, which vary by culture and age

Photo by I Yunmai on Unsplash

People from different cultures show both similarities and differences in how body appreciation, sociocultural pressure, and internalisation of thin ideals vary, according to a study published July 31, 2024 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Louise Hanson from Durham University, UK, and colleagues.

Body image is a multifaceted and complex phenomenon encapsulating how we think, behave, and feel about our body. To date, most body image research has focused on young, White, Western women, and has focused on negative rather than positive body image.

By contrast, Hanson and colleagues examined body appreciation, encapsulating positive thoughts and feelings regarding one’s own body. They also included participants not only from Western countries (ie, Australia, Canada, United Kingdom, United States of America), but also China and Nigeria. A final sample of 1186 women completed the questionnaires and were included in the analysis.

The results did not reveal significant difference in body satisfaction between women of different ages, but there was significant variation between cultures. Black Nigerian women had the highest body appreciation, followed by Eastern Asian Chinese women, with White Western women reporting lowest body appreciation. The findings suggest that ethnicity and culture are important influences on body appreciation and might act as protective factors that promote positive body image.

High internalisation of the thin ideal, and high perceived pressure about appearance from family, peers, and the media, were associated with lower body appreciation. Internalisation varied by age in some cultures: older White Western and Black Nigerian women reported lower thin-ideal internalisation than younger women, but Chinese women experienced the same thin-ideal internalisation across the lifespan.

For women from all cultures, older women reported lower perceived sociocultural pressure than younger women. White Western women experienced more perceived pressure from the media than Black Nigerian and Chinese women, but Chinese women reported the most pressure from peers. The results also showed that Black Nigerian women reported the lowest sociocultural pressure overall, and that Chinese women reported the most pressure.

The authors suggest that future studies should include more women in older age groups to obtain a fully representative picture of women’s body appreciation across the lifespan. In addition, further development of measurement tools is necessary for future research in cross-cultural contexts. According to the authors, the results of the current study could be used to target positive body image interventions to each culture. Further research may be required to develop effective interventions for each group.

The authors add: “We found that body appreciation was relatively stable across all ages and sociocultural pressure was evident in all cultures. However, the extent to which this pressure was experienced and where it came from differed across cultures.”

Provided by PLOS

Categories : Ethics and Law Metabolic DisordersTags :

Major Review Urges Tackling of Weight Stigma in Healthcare

On By ModernMedia
Obesity
Image source: Pixabay CC0

Weight stigma is a negative bias known to limit both access to health services and treatments. A joint international consensus statement was recently published in Nature, aiming to end weight stigma in healthcare globally.

Researchers conducted a large review of over 3700 studies to evaluate weight stigma reduction strategies in healthcare practice and healthcare education, with a view to provide recommendations for interventions, learning, and research. The findings, published in Obesity Reviews, indicate that there is a need to move away from a weight-centric approach to healthcare.

Lead author, Dr Anastasia Kalea said: “Sadly healthcare, including general practice, is one of the most common settings for weight stigmatisation and we know this acts as a barrier to the services and treatments that can help people manage weight.

“A common misconception among medics and others, is that obesity is caused by factors within a person’s control, focusing on diet and exercise without recognition of, for instance, social and environmental determinants.

“In this review, it was clear more needs to be done to educate healthcare professionals and medical students on the complex range of factors regulating body weight, and to address weight stigma, explicitly emphasising its prevalence, origins, and impact.”

Researchers undertook a systematic review of 3773 international research articles. This included 25 weight stigma interventional initiatives, comprising a total of 3554 participants.

Weight-inclusive approaches to education in healthcare were identified as effective in challenging stereotypes and improving attitudes. They identified stigma reduction strategies in healthcare, which included ethics seminars discussing patient experiences, embedding virtual story-telling of patient case studies, or empathy evoking activities in the curriculum, such as following a calorie restricted diet or participation in clinical encounters with patients living with overweight and obesity. However, other methods such as video presentations and short lectures were not equally effective in improving attitudes in the long term.

Researchers are now calling on medical schools in both the UK and globally to ensure effective and sustained weight-inclusive teaching is embedded in medical doctor training and is added to the continuing professional development of clinicians.

Dr Kalea said: “Weight stigma needs to be addressed early on and continuously throughout healthcare education and practice, by teaching the genetic and socioenvironmental determinants of weight, by discussing the sources, impact and recognising the implications of stigma on treatment. We need to move away from a solely weight-centric approach to healthcare to a health-focussed weight-inclusive one. And it is equally important to assess the effects of weight stigma in epidemiological research.”

The urgency of tackling the obesity and overweight has been brought to the fore by evidence of the link to an increased risk from COVID.

Dr Kalea added: “Stigma reduction interventions are a current research priority. Improving the ways we educate healthcare professionals early on is a starting point, keeping the focus on our patients; we need to communicate better, listen carefully to our patients needs and let these inform our teaching and research agendas.”

Weight stigma is also known to cause ‘internalised weight bias’ (IWB), which is when a person applies negative societal or cultural beliefs about body weight to themselves. This can lead to psychological distress, depression, anxiety, low self-esteem and often leads to decreased health motivation and maladaptive coping such as avoidance of timely healthcare, social isolation, reduced physical activity and disordered eating behaviours.

Weight stigma has also been shown to increase risk of developing obesity, and healthcare is one of the most common contexts where weight stigmatisation occurs. Physicians have been reported as the second most common source of weight stigma and discrimination.

Source: University College London