Distribution and disavowal: Managing the parental stigma of Children's weight and weight loss

Davis, J. Lucian; Goar, Carla; Manago, Bianca; Reidinger, Bobbi

doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2018.10.015

Cited by 27 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…20,52 Parents who themselves have experienced weight issues have a tendency to internalize self-blame for their child's weight. 53 In a case study of a child with a rare genetic disease of obesity, the child's mother shared her experience, saying that ''.many people told me I was a bad parent by letting her become so obese,'' and that she began to ''avoid [taking] her outside to prevent the emotional burden of the remarks people made.'' 20 Parents may also feel pressured to cook healthy home-made meals for their children.…”

Section: Psychosocial Consequences Of Weight Stigmamentioning

confidence: 99%

Complexity and Stigma of Pediatric Obesity

et al. 2021

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Weight stigma is rooted in a fundamental misunderstanding of the origins of obesity, wherein the interplay of behavioral, environmental, genetic, and metabolic factors is deemphasized. Instead, the widespread societal and cultural presence of weight stigma fosters misconceptions of obesity being solely a result of unhealthy personal choices. Weight stigma is pervasive in childhood and adolescence and can affect individuals throughout their life. Although the prevalence of pediatric obesity remains high throughout the world, it becomes increasingly important to understand how weight stigma affects weight and health outcomes in children and adolescents with overweight or obesity, including in those with rare genetic diseases of obesity. We identified and reviewed recent literature (primarily published since 2000) on weight stigma in the pediatric setting. Articles were identified with search terms including pediatric obesity, weight bias, weight stigma, weight-based teasing and bullying, and weight bias in health care. In this narrative review, we discuss the stigma of pediatric obesity as it relates to the complex etiology of obesity as well as describe best practices for avoiding bias and perpetuating stigma in the health care setting.

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Section: Psychosocial Consequences Of Weight Stigmamentioning

confidence: 99%

Complexity and Stigma of Pediatric Obesity

et al. 2021

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“…Remember, parents of children with obesity will often themselves have personal weight problems 80 . This further adds to parental stigma, as they are not solely responsible for the impact they are having on their children, but also themselves.…”

Section: Talking About Obesity and Over-weight With Children And Young Peoplementioning

confidence: 99%

The importance of language in engagement between health-care professionals and people living with obesity: a joint consensus statement

Albury

Strain

Brocq³

et al. 2020

The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology

103

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Obesity is a chronic condition that requires long-term management and is associated with unprecedented stigma in different settings, including during interactions with the health care system. This stigma has a negative impact on the mental and physical health of people with obesity and can lead to avoidance of health care and disruption of the doctors-patient relationship. There is significant evidence that simply having a conversation about obesity can lead to weight loss which translates into health benefits, however, both health-care practitioners and people living with obesity alike report apprehension in initiating this conversation.We have gathered stakeholders from Obesity UK, physicians, dieticians, clinical psychologists, obesity researchers, conversation analysts, nurses, and representatives from NHS England Diabetes and Obesity. This group has contributed to production of this report on how people living with obesity wish to have their condition referred to, and provides practical guidance for health care professionals to facilitate collaborative and supportive discussions about obesity. The expert stakeholders consider that changes to language used at the point of care can act to alleviate the stigma of obesity within the health care system and support better outcomes for both people living with obesity and for the healthcare system.

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“…Resistance to stigma and moral association were explored at the level of the parent-self by Davis et al (2018), who found that stigmatisation is psychologically hindering as a result of self-blame, but that some parents utilise their own experience of body size to protect children’s sense of well-being and to limit self-blame. The present study’s findings indicate a social layer to parents’ resistance, whereby it was presented as both an individual and a shared experience of anger, as collective volunteering, and as articulated politically through policy alternatives that argued for material resources and greater control over foodscapes and the food industry.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The growth of stigmatisation in the United Kingdom provides a context in which obesity has taken on meaning beyond clinical diagnosis. Obesity is highly stigmatised and includes parents as moral associates, because as primary caregivers they are given core responsibility for their child’s weight: “in the West, children’s large bodies have become visible markers of parental irresponsibility” (Davis et al, 2018, p. 61).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…But tensions arise based on class, cultural and socioeconomic differences with affordability as a core question. Despite this, parents in poverty are highly resourceful (Caraher, 2016) and juggle caregiving commitments, that Davis et al (2018) considers to be morality work in which they navigate multiple moral burdens and utilise multiple strategies based upon their own experiences. These lived experiences are lacking in obesity research.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Social Implications of Weight Bias Internalisation: Parents’ Ultimate Responsibility as Consent, Social Division and Resistance

Noonan-Gunning

2019

Front. Psychol.

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Responsibility is a moral quality of caring that is central to child health policies. In contemporary United Kingdom these policies are based on behavioural psychology and underpinned by individualism, an ideology central to neoliberal governance. Amid the complexities of “obesity” and inequalities, there is a multi-layered stigmatisation of parents as moral associates. Few studies consider the lived realities of food policy processes from the standpoint of class. This critical qualitative research draws on theorists who explain processes of power and class: Foucault, Gramsci, Bourdieu, and Marx. Its objectives are: (a) to understand the lived experience of parents as they interact with food policy; (b) to explore how parents resist stigmatisation; and (c) to reflect on implications for policy and practice.MethodsUsing purposive sampling, 31 ethnographically informed interviews were carried out in a London borough, with policy actors: policymakers, implementers, and parents as policy recipients, including 12 working-class mothers.ResultsA core theme of “responsibilities” emerged with four interconnecting sub-processes that provide insight into how stigmatisation and resistance evolve through policy.DiscussionAs have others, this study reveals the idea of responsibility as fundamental to the processes of soft power. Child health is a priority for participants and a “ruling idea.” The diffusion of responsibility throughout policy leads to confusion about where it lies. New subjectivities are formed in line with ideas of governmentality. Parents engage with policy at multiple sites that elicit symbolic violence, and stigma sows social divisions. Against this background, working-class parents are left in a state of cognitive dissonance between being made responsible (responsibilisation), and feeling responsible (self-blaming) for their children’s weight while lacking the material resources to provide an optimal nutritious diet. Resistance is interwoven and is essentially found in parents’ policy alternatives that diverge from United Kingdom government policy.ConclusionCritical qualitative research using multiple theorists is valuable in understanding how parents interact with policy in a complex social world. With United Kingdom policy failing, useful insights are provided into how involving parents in policymaking might determine a meaningful collective responsibility, with a political ethic of care and unity between parents that would advance health equity.

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Distribution and disavowal: Managing the parental stigma of Children's weight and weight loss

Cited by 27 publications

References 37 publications

Complexity and Stigma of Pediatric Obesity

Complexity and Stigma of Pediatric Obesity

The importance of language in engagement between health-care professionals and people living with obesity: a joint consensus statement

Social Implications of Weight Bias Internalisation: Parents’ Ultimate Responsibility as Consent, Social Division and Resistance

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