Exploring the impact of physical activity-related weight stigma among women with self-identified obesity

Myre, Maxine; Glenn, Nicole M.; Berry, Tanya R.

doi:10.1080/2159676x.2020.1751690

Cited by 25 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 54 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The extent to which stigmatisation and discrimination have an effect on the willingness to be physically active depends on how people with obesity respond to and cope with weight stigma experiences [9], specifically those occurring when exercising [42,43]. The significance of coping strategies for health behaviours in the stigma process has been indicated by in recent studies by Himmelstein, Puhl, and colleagues [42].…”

Section: Coping With Weight Stigma and Physical Activitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Studies on coping behaviour regarding obesity stigma are generally scarce [42,49], particularly with regard to public sport and exercise-related situations [43], and even more so with regard to the complexity of the strategy of avoidance and social withdrawal as a response to obesity stigma experiences. Some studies focused on everyday social situations and occasionally on physical activity and exercise settings [11,45].…”

Section: Coping With Weight Stigma and Physical Activitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some studies focused on everyday social situations and occasionally on physical activity and exercise settings [11,45]. To our knowledge, only few studies [3,43,50,51] have analysed how exercise-related discriminatory experiences may lead to self-exclusion and social withdrawal from physical activity settings. An interesting assumption in this regard was stated by Vartanian and Novak [41], namely that stigmatised individuals may avoid public exercise settings, such as gyms, due to weight stigma, but may nonetheless exercise in other ways.…”

Section: Coping With Weight Stigma and Physical Activitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…An interesting assumption in this regard was stated by Vartanian and Novak [41], namely that stigmatised individuals may avoid public exercise settings, such as gyms, due to weight stigma, but may nonetheless exercise in other ways. A recent interview study with women with obesity by Myre, Glenn [43] indicated that individuals may cope with physical activity related stigma by changing their exercising behaviour in specific protective ways. Hence, it appears that the setting and the prospect of discrimination, not necessarily the activity itself, play a central role in whether individuals with obesity avoid physical activity and exercising, thus also suggesting that avoidance may be a far more complex behaviour.…”

Section: Coping With Weight Stigma and Physical Activitymentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Weight stigma experiences and self-exclusion from sport and exercise settings among people with obesity

2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background A central strategy to tackle the health risks of obesity is regular physical activity (PA), exercising and participating in sports. However, people with obesity regularly experience weight-related stigma and discrimination in sport and exercise settings. Research has indicated that they often cope with such experiences by simply excluding themselves from sport and exercise. Meanwhile, self-exclusion as a coping strategy has not been fully understood and it remains unclear to what extent self-exclusion from PA settings is accompanied by general inactivity among people with obesity. The goal of this interview study was to determine to what extent physical inactivity among adults with obesity is the result of weight stigma-induced self-exclusion in and from sport and PA settings. Methods We conducted semi-structured interviews with thirty adult men and women with obesity (average BMI: 40.64) and asked them about experiences with their body, weight stigma and coping behaviours in sport and exercise settings across their lifespans. Employing constant comparative analysis and a thematic network approach, we analysed the interview data to identify the most common reasons for and different strategies of self-exclusion. Results Participants reported that they excluded themselves from sport and exercise settings due to traumatic weight stigma experiences, self-discrimination and fear of stigma, using a variety of strategies. Exposure to discrimination was prevented by selectively avoiding certain settings or strategically frequenting them at certain times only, but also by exercising in ‘safe’ spaces, e.g. at home. Furthermore, people with obesity reported strategically managing their social relations in order to avoid stigmatising reactions by others in exercise settings, for example by exercising individually and avoiding social PA. Most notably, our results strongly indicate that not all self-excluding coping strategies result in less exercising. Conclusions In order to successfully promote physical activity among people with obesity, the various forms of self-exclusion should be taken into account as pathways of stigma regarding physical activity. People with obesity may exclude themselves from certain PA settings, yet could still be exercising on their own or in other ways. One focus of public health strategies should thus be directed at the potentially socially isolating effects.

show abstract

Section: Coping With Weight Stigma and Physical Activitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Coping With Weight Stigma and Physical Activitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Coping With Weight Stigma and Physical Activitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Coping With Weight Stigma and Physical Activitymentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Weight stigma experiences and self-exclusion from sport and exercise settings among people with obesity

2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The assumption that individuals of higher body weight are “lazy” is a quintessential example of weight stigmatization, especially given that most apps make this attribution without assessing alternative contextual factors that may drive low activity (e.g., illness and work/home responsibilities). Thus, this language reinforces fallacious stereotypes about obesity particularly related to their capacity and engagement with exercise/physical activity 11,17‐19 …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 83%

Weight stigma is overlooked in commercial‐grade mobile applications for weight loss and weight‐related behaviors

Olson

Goldstein

Lillis

et al. 2020

Obesity Science & Practice

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Effects of physical‐activity‐related anti‐weight stigma materials on implicit and explicit evaluations

Berry

Myre

2021

Obesity Science & Practice

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Objective: Although there exist videos and images created by Obesity Canada and similar organizations (e.g., the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity), it is not known if the materials have the desired effect of reducing stigma against people with obesity and might have the opposite effect of increasing stigma. Therefore, two studies used implicit and explicit evaluations to examine the effectiveness of images and videos intended to reduce weight stigma. Methods: Study 1 participants (N = 284; M age = 31.47 years [SD = 11.26]; 177 selfidentified as women; 83 self-identified as living with obesity) completed two implicit measures (one with images of people living with obesity and the other with control images) followed by a weight stigma questionnaire. Study 2 participants (N = 308; M age = 31.54 years [SD = 11.35]; 153 self-identified as women; 59 self-identified as living with obesity) were randomly assigned to view an obesity and exercise video and images of persons with obesity, control video and images of persons with obesity, obesity and exercise video and control images, or control video and control images, followed by the implicit measures and explicit evaluation questionnaire. Results: Implicit evaluations of the control images were more positive than the images of persons with obesity. Participants with no history of obesity who saw the control video and control images had lower weight stigma compared to participants in the other conditions.Conclusions: Materials created to reduce weight stigma might not be effective among people with no history of obesity themselves or via a family member or friend. Intervention and health promotion researchers may wish to investigate effects of the images in combination with other messages because simply using the nonstigmatizing images is likely not enough. K E Y W O R D S images, physical activity, weight stigmaThis is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.

show abstract

Exploring the impact of physical activity-related weight stigma among women with self-identified obesity

Cited by 25 publications

References 54 publications

Weight stigma experiences and self-exclusion from sport and exercise settings among people with obesity

Weight stigma experiences and self-exclusion from sport and exercise settings among people with obesity

Weight stigma is overlooked in commercial‐grade mobile applications for weight loss and weight‐related behaviors

Effects of physical‐activity‐related anti‐weight stigma materials on implicit and explicit evaluations

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About