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Assess the impact of a weight-inclusive podcast (WIP) intervention on body appreciation, intuitive eating (IE), anti-fat attitudes, and weight and health attitudes in university students enrolled in an upper-division nutrition course. Quasi-experimental design: Intervention participants listened to 8 weekly WIP episodes (n = 16); the comparison group listened to 8 weekly general nutrition podcasts (n = 29). Intuitive eating, body appreciation, anti-fat attitudes, and general weight and health attitudes were measured preintervention and postintervention. Two-way, repeated measures analysis of variance revealed significant interaction effects of time × group, with participants in the WIP group experiencing significantly greater improvements in body appreciation (P = 0.03) and IE (P = 0.02) and greater reductions in anti-fat attitude scores (P = 0.006) than the comparison group. Podcasts may be a cost-effective tool to improve body appreciation and IE and reduce anti-fat attitudes in future nutrition professionals. Future research would benefit from recruiting prehealth professionals across different majors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This cross-sectional study examined the weight bias attitudes and obesity beliefs of health science (HS), nursing, and pre-medicine undergraduate students. Methods: Using snowballing and convenience sampling strategies, students (N = 139) completed an online survey, including a 24-item Antifat Attitudes Scale (AFAS) and eight-item Belief About Obese Persons (BAOP) scale. Results: HS students have higher weight bias than nursing and pre-medicine students combined (M = 43.45, SD = 10.75), t(137) = −2.45, p =.016). A negative correlation exists between AFAS and BAOP suggesting high weight bias influences a belief that obesity is controllable. Gender positively predicted weight bias attitudes (ß = −11.43, t = −4.33, p <.001) and obesity beliefs (ß = 3.75, t = 3.01, p =. 003). Conclusions: Findings confirm that HS students have weight bias attitudes. This supports undergraduate curricular changes on obesity etiology that may improve treatment plans of individuals who are obese. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Culturally and linguistically diverse population groups disproportionately experience higher weight and other non–weight‐related discrimination in healthcare settings outside of their ancestral country. Little is known about the experiences of individuals with Arab heritage. This study aimed to qualitatively explore the intersectional weight‐related healthcare experiences of individuals of Arab heritage with higher weight in Australia. Methods: A general inductive enquiry approach was used. Purposive, convenience and snowball sampling was used to recruit individuals of Arab heritage residing in Australia. Individuals were invited to participate in an online semistructured interview. Interviews were recorded, transcribed and thematically analysed. Results: Fifteen participants took part in the study. Of these participants, 93% were female (n = 14), 80% were aged between 18 and 44 years (n = 12), 73% were university educated (n = 11), 53% were born outside of Australia (n = 8) and all were Muslim (n = 15). Four main themes were identified: (1) appearance‐based judgement, (2) generalised advice and assumptions, (3) cultural responsiveness and (4) healthcare system constraints. Conclusion: Individuals of Arab heritage with higher weight in Australia, namely, females, often perceive their healthcare experiences as dismissive of their cultural and religious needs and driven by causality assumptions around weight. It is crucial that care delivered encompasses cultural humility, is weight‐inclusive and acknowledges systemic constraints. Cultural safety training benchmarks, healthcare management reform and weight‐inclusive healthcare approaches are recommended to assist healthcare providers in delivering effective, holistic and culturally safe care. Patient or Public Contribution: Insights gained from conversations with Arab heritage community members with lived experiences regarding weight‐related healthcare encounters informed the study design and approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The association between eating disorders (EDs) and harmful substance use (substance use that causes psychosocial impairment) is well recognized in the literature, and military veterans may be at heightened risk for both issues due to deployment‐related stressors. However, little is known about which ED‐related symptoms are associated with harmful substance use in veterans, and whether gender plays a differential role in this relationship. Our aims were to: (1) examine gender differences in ED‐related symptoms; and (2) examine whether ED‐related symptoms differentially predict harmful substance use in US veteran men and women who had recently separated from service. Method: This study was based on a nationally representative four‐wave longitudinal sample of post‐9/11 veterans (N = 835; 61.2% female). Longitudinal mixed modeling was used to test whether specific ED‐related behaviors at baseline predicted harmful substance use at follow‐ups. Results: We replicated gendered patterns of ED‐related symptoms observed in civilian populations, wherein men had higher weight‐and‐body‐related concerns (including excessive exercise and muscle building) and negative attitude toward obesity, and women had higher bulimic and restricting symptoms. For women, alcohol, drug, and marijuana problems were predicted by higher bulimic symptoms, whereas for men, these problems were predicted by higher restricting symptoms. Conclusion: Gender played a differential role in the relationship between EDs and harmful substance use. Bulimic symptoms were the most robust predictor for harmful substance use among veteran women, whereas restricting was the most robust predictor for harmful substance use among veteran men. Public Significance: The current study found that veteran women had higher bulimic symptoms (characterized by binge eating and purging) and restricting than veteran men. In women, bulimic symptoms predicted future harmful use of alcohol, marijuana, and other drugs. In contrast, veteran men had higher weight‐and‐body‐related concerns (characterized by excessive exercise and muscle building) than veteran women. In men, restricting symptoms predicted future harmful use of alcohol, marijuana, and other drugs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Verify the effect of non-periodized and linear periodized combined training on body image perception and body dissatisfaction in adults with obesity. Design: A randomized clinical trial on the effect of two types of combined training periodization was carried out on people with grade I and II obesity. Setting: Participants were allocated into three groups: non-periodized periodization group, linear periodization group, and control group, with 23 participants in each. Subjects: Adults with obesity, with a body mass index between 30 kg/m² and 40 kg/m². Interventions: The intervention lasted 16 weeks (separated into three mesocycles of 4 weeks and 1 week of familiarization), in 3 weekly sessions of 1 hour each, composed of aerobic (30 min) and muscle strength exercises (six exercises) in the same session. The group with non-periodized model maintained uniform intensity, volume, and workload throughout the mesocycles. The group with the linear periodization model started with low initial intensity, subsequently introducing a gradual increase of intensity in the mesocycles. Main measures: Body image perception (current and ideal silhouette) and body dissatisfaction were assessed using the Stunkard silhouette scale. Results: The perception of the current silhouette increased only in the control group (Δ = 1.16; p = 0.04). There was a significant reduction in the ideal silhouette over time (p = 0.001), especially in non-periodized group (Δ = −1.26). Body dissatisfaction increased significantly only over time (p = 0.001), especially for control group (Δ = 1.47). Conclusions: Regardless of periodization, combined training effectively maintained the perception of the current silhouette and reduced the ideal silhouette in adults with obesity. Trial registration: Brazilian Registry of Clinical Trials (RBR-3c7rt3). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to assess the trends in the proportions of weight loss efforts among Korean adolescents aged 10–18 years from 2005 to 2021, examining variations based on weight status, to examine factors related to weight loss efforts by weight status, and to evaluate weight loss efforts based on the combination of measured and self-perceived weight status. Complex sample design analyses were conducted on a dataset comprising 10,760 adolescents, utilizing information from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, a nationally representative dataset. Participants were categorized into non-overweight and overweight groups using a BMI percentile threshold of 85. 22–29 % of non-overweight adolescents and 54–77 % of adolescents with overweight engaged in weight loss efforts. Among adolescents who attempted to lose weight from 2005 to 2017, 39.5–57.1 % tried both of diet and exercise, 22.7–47.4 % tried exercise alone, and 10.2–26.7 % tried diet alone. Female gender, older age, and higher self-perceived weight status were associated with increased odds of weight loss efforts, irrespective of actual weight status. For adolescents perceiving themselves as obese, the odds of attempting weight loss were 8.32 for non-overweight boys, 2.02 for non-overweight girls, 15.28 for overweight boys, and 5.77 for overweight girls compared to controls who were non-overweight and perceived themselves as not obese. Weight loss efforts among Korean adolescents aged 10 to 18 remained consistent irrespective of their actual weight over 16 years. Throughout this period, adolescents who perceived themselves as obese were more likely to attempt weight loss, independent of their true weight status. Hence, subjective weight perception plays a significant role in influencing weight loss behaviors among adolescents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Few nurse practitioner (NP) programs include obesity and weight bias education in their curriculum. However, NPs will likely provide care for people living with obesity, many of whom have been discriminated against based on their weight by previous providers, and many NP students may feel unprepared to navigate weight management competently. This pilot study included a weight bias reduction (WBR) intervention, which included a simulation-based experience (SBE) with a standardized participant (SP) and educational activities embedded within the NP curriculum. Nineteen NP students participated in this pilot study, but only seven students had matching data for preintervention to postintervention scores. There were no statistically significant differences in preintervention and postintervention Attitudes Toward Obese Persons (ATOP) or Beliefs About Obese Persons (BAOP) scores. Despite this small sample size and not achieving statistical significance, SBE-SP holds promise to depict realistic patient encounters to improve NPs' attitudes and beliefs toward persons with obesity and to reduce weight bias. Therefore, incorporating SBE-SP may be a feasible component of the NP curriculum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Obesity is a complex, chronic, relapsing disease that requires an individualised approach to treatment. However, weight stigma (WS) experienced in healthcare settings poses a significant barrier to achieving person‐centred care for obesity. Understanding the experiences of people living with obesity (PwO) can inform interventions to reduce WS and optimise patient outcomes. This study explores how patients with obesity perceive WS in general practice settings; its impact on their psychological well‐being and health behaviours, and the patients suggestions for mitigating it. Methods: In‐depth semistructured interviews were conducted with 11 PwO who had experienced WS in general practice settings in Ireland. The interviews were conducted online via Zoom between May and August 2023; interviews lasted between 31 and 63 min (M = 34.36 min). Interviews were audio‐recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed using inductive reflexive thematic analysis. Results: Three overarching themes specific to participants' experience of WS in general practice were generated: (1) shame, blame and 'failure'; (2) eat less, move more—the go‐to treatment; (3) worthiness tied to compliance. A fourth theme: (4) the desire for a considered approach, outlines the participants' suggestions for reducing WS by improving the quality of patient–provider interactions in general practice. Conclusion: The findings call for a paradigm shift in the management of obesity in general practice: emphasising training for GPs in weight‐sensitive communication and promoting respectful, collaborative, and individualised care to reduce WS and improve outcomes for people with obesity. Patient or Public Contribution: PPI collaborators played an active and equal role in shaping the research, contributing to the development of the research questions, refining the interview schedule, identifying key themes in the data, and granting final approval to the submitted and published version of the study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: For years politics and healthcare, faced with the progressive increase in the prevalence of overweight and obesity in childhood, have wondered how to stem it and reduce its consequences on health without finding a valid, effective and applicable solution. Many studies have been written initially on what to prescribe, then on why not to prescribe and how to approach people in a new and more effective way to improve their behaviors, considered the main cause of excess weight. Over the last twenty years it has been highlighted that no diet or physical exercise is truly effective and not even global changes in lifestyle guarantee the large weight reductions traditionally expected, despite offering significant health advantages. A new approach is necessary and we must begin by working on ourselves. Main body: We examined literature on weight stigma and considered expert opinions, as well as feedback from parents/caregivers and patients. Literature on stigma has grown enormously in recent years, and finally considers the opinion of parents and patients. By interviewing patients with obesity, it was discovered that very often healthcare workers do not communicate the diagnosis and, if they do, they have a blaming attitude, holding patients responsible for their weight. Furthermore, when these people become aware of their obesity and seek treatment, they do not find adequate professionals and centers. Failure was mostly due to the enormous burden of obesity stigma and discrimination which, especially in children and young people, encourages internalization of the problem and takes away their self-efficacy, desire and ability to take care of themselves. Conclusions: New actions are needed to change all this. We propose "Training, Networking and Contrasting Weight Stigma". Now that we've figured out where to start, we should get going. And yet, nothing is changing! [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study's aim was to test associations between nutrition knowledge and obesity-related attitudes and physical activity (PA) among 3000 18–35-year-old men and women from Kenya, South Africa (SA), and the United Kingdom (UK). A cross-sectional online survey was conducted in April 2022. To estimate nutrition knowledge, dietary recommendation knowledge score was computed using the standard General Nutrition Knowledge questionnaire. Obesity-related attitudes were from the British Social Attitudes Survey. Self-reported days of vigorous and moderate PAs and walking were used. Ordinal logistic regression was employed to test all associations, while adjusting for age group, gender and a household asset score. Using simple mediation, testing was also done to ascertain whether obesity-related attitudes mediated associations between nutrition knowledge and PA. Consistently, better nutrition knowledge was associated with disagreeing that 'There is no reason to worry about obesity' (ORs ≥ 1.09), but lower odds of being against 'Providing free weight management courses' and 'Creating/improving cycle paths and pavements to encourage PA' (ORs ≤ 0.90). Better nutrition knowledge was also associated with higher vigorous PA in SA (OR = 1.09), and moderate PA (OR = 1.04) and walking (OR = 1.12) in the UK. In the combined sample, associations of nutrition knowledge with vigorous PA were fully mediated by believing that 'Obesity results from not exercising enough' (11.1% mediated). Likewise, associations of nutrition knowledge with moderate PA were fully mediated by attitude towards 'Creating or improving cycle paths and pavements to encourage PA' in the UK (38.9% mediated). Nutrition knowledge is associated with obesity-related attitudes and PA among young adults, but some relationships are country-specific. Interventions based on findings from high-income countries should be evaluated before being implemented in low-resource settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Despite the rising prevalence of people living with obesity, physicians are providing suboptimal care to these individuals, which may be a consequence of inadequate education in weight management and negative attitudes toward people living with obesity. Internal Medicine (IM) residency is an ideal setting to address physicians' attitudes toward people living with obesity. However, there is a paucity of recent literature on this topic. This study sought to assess the current attitudes of IM residents toward obesity as a disease, people living with obesity, and obesity treatment. Methods: A cross‐sectional survey was conducted in 2020 across two IM programs assessing residents' attitudes toward obesity as a disease, people living with obesity, and obesity treatment. RESULTS: Among 42 residents who participated in the survey, 64% were women; 31 percent were Post Graduate Year 1, 31% PGY‐2, and 38% PGY‐3. Mean attitude scores were high on statements regarding obesity as a chronic disease [4.7 (SD 0.4)] and its association with serious medical conditions [4.9 (SD 0.3)]. Residents had overall positive attitudes toward people living with obesity. In contrast, residents felt negatively regarding their level of success in helping patients lose weight [2.0 (SD 0.7)]. CONCLUSIONS: While residents recognized obesity as a chronic disease and had positive attitudes toward people living with obesity, their low ratings regarding weight management success suggest that targeted educational efforts are needed to increase obesity treatment self‐efficacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Current treatments for people with obesity emphasise the need for person-centred approaches that consider complex biopsychosocial factors and value the lived experience of people when attempting to lose weight. Methods: Narrative interviews (n = 20) were conducted with people living with obesity to explore the causes of their weight gain and their expectations and engagement with treatment at a Weight Management Clinic. A mixed inductive and deductive qualitative analysis identified utterances that represented psychological constructs used to understand self-appraisal and health behaviour. A narrative analysis was used to situate these findings in the context of a participant's life story. Results: Locus of control was a dominant construct evidenced through a person's attributional style and self-efficacy. Transcripts represented a heightened sense of self-understanding and shifts in control, and styles of attribution and efficacy resulted in either stasis or self-actualisation. The Stages of Change model could be applied to narratives to ascertain a patient's motivation to access treatment. Importantly, narrative interviews also allowed for the consideration of how a person's systemic context influenced their weight. Conclusion: Narrative interaction supports both self- and shared understandings of the causes and consequences of obesity for individuals, in a non-blaming or shaming manner. It provides an opportunity to enhance engagement through tailored, person-centred treatments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Adolescent mental health problems are becoming increasingly prevalent, and there are correlations between weight-related concerns and adolescent mental health. The aim of this study is to explore the association between three weight-related factors (actual weight, weight perception, and weight teasing) and mental health problems (depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, and loneliness) in Chinese adolescents. Methods: 10,070 adolescents between the ages of 11–18 from schools in Shanghai, China were selected using a stratified random cluster sampling method. Self-reported questionnaires were collected to investigate weight-related factors and mental health problems. Logistic regression analysis was used to examine the relationship. Results: The prevalence of depressive symptoms, loneliness, mild anxiety symptoms, and moderate to severe anxiety symptoms among adolescents were 18.0%, 53.8%, 26.5%, and 12.3%, respectively, with a higher prevalence found in females. After adjusting for weight perception and weight teasing, actual weight had no harmful impact on adolescents' mental health. Adolescents' perception of being overweight increased the risk of depressive symptoms, loneliness, mild anxiety symptoms, and moderate to severe anxiety symptoms, while the perception of being underweight had a similar but more profound impact (depressive symptoms OR = 1.590, 95% CI: 1.342–1.883; loneliness OR = 1.537, 95% CI: 1.353–1.746; mild anxiety symptoms OR = 1.368, 95% CI: 1.178–1.589; moderate to severe anxiety symptoms OR = 1.780, 95% CI: 1.449–2.186). Experiencing weight teasing more than once a year had a greater effect on adolescents' mental health, especially among adolescents with overweight/obesity (depressive symptoms OR = 2.970, 95% CI: 2.325–3.793; loneliness OR = 3.839, 95% CI: 3.119–4.727; mild anxiety symptoms OR = 2.822, 95% CI: 2.236–3.562; moderate to severe anxiety symptoms OR = 5.212, 95% CI: 3.846–7.065). Conclusions: The prevalence of mental health problems among adolescents was high, especially loneliness. Weight perception and weight teasing, but not the actual weight, independently influenced adolescent mental health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the existence of effective treatments, obesity continues to present a severe public health crisis. Limited access to treatments works against efforts to reduce obesity prevalence. A major barrier to treatment access is a lack of insurance coverage. This study focused on an important population of stakeholders: benefits managers. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationships between attitudes about insurance coverage of obesity treatments and obesity stigma. Benefits managers have the ability to advocate for insurance coverage of medical interventions. We assessed whether attitudes toward covering obesity benefits for employees could be modified by receiving targeted information or were associated with particular factors. We recruited participants from Dun & Bradstreet's employer database using emails. Participants were randomized to one of three conditions that provided written information about: (1) prevalence of obesity (control), (2) prevalence + financial implications of obesity, and (3) prevalence + physiology of obesity. Questionnaires were self-administered online. The response rate was 4.8%, with 404 participants meeting eligibility criteria. While attitudes toward coverage of obesity interventions did not differ significantly based on condition (p > 0.05), gender, history of previous obesity treatment, and an individual's likelihood to attribute obesity to biological and environmental factors showed significant associations with supporting coverage of obesity treatment (p < 0.05). Findings suggest that understanding obesity as a condition caused by biological factors as opposed to personal responsibility and behavior is associated with greater support for coverage of all its treatments. • Lack of insurance coverage is a frequently cited barrier to obesity treatment. • Little is known about the views of key stakeholders such as benefits managers. • The literature yields mixed findings on ways to influence attitudes toward obesity. • Certain characteristics were associated with benefits managers' support of coverage. • Greater awareness of the biological factors of obesity may increase coverage support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Childhood obesity has been shown to impair psychological health. However, psychological factors are often overlooked in both research evaluations and treatment interventions, and children's perspectives on managing obesity are underexplored. Neglecting psychosocial factors might undermine interventions. This research explored the psychological beliefs, expectations and experiences of children living with obesity (range 7–13) and attending a weight management programme (WMP). Methods: Thirty‐four participants (19 females, 15 males, average age 9.5 years) completed a semistructured interview. Recorded interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed using thematic analysis. Results: Four overarching themes were developed: (1) defining health and self‐recognition; (2) external influence; feedback, stigma and comparison; (3) recognising emotions and (4) future expectations: obesity is a reality. These themes interact to influence the children's psychosocial status. Conclusions: This study highlights a range of psychosocial and emotional difficulties that children living with obesity experience and suggests that these remain regardless of their attendance at a WMP. Interventions for children living with obesity should address psychosocial factors, including stress management, peer victimisation and handling feedback from others. Patient or Public Contribution: As proposed by the two young people acting as patient and public involvement and engagement representatives, the utilisation of scrapbooks as a preinterview tool was particularly helpful in aiding discussion during the interviews. This innovative approach could be considered a valuable methodological technique for investigating sensitive topics with children in future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To determine if obesity bias scores among nursing students changed after education was delivered and to what degree body mass index (BMI) was associated with a personal experience of bias during a student's healthcare history. Methods: A quantitative, quasi-experimental design was used to analyze sociodemographic information and Implicit Association Test scores of junior, senior, and full-time accelerated coursework track nursing students. Results: Generally, obesity bias declined among the group. However, bias increased regarding increasing BMI. Conclusion: Obesity bias awareness and obesity education can decrease obesity bias among nursing students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Obesity in children has become a public health concern worldwide with a significant rise in recent years. Aim & Objective: This study aimed to estimate the occurrence of overweight and obesity in adolescents studying in school and to determine the risk factors for obesity as well as overweight in this population. Settings & Design: This cross-sectional research was carried out among adolescent children of age group 12-15 years from Jodhpur's rural and urban schools. Methods & Material: The present study included 1864 school children. A well-structured questionnaire was used to gather data, and the researchers measured weight and height with the help of calibrated tools. Index for Body Mass (BMI) and Z-scores were calculated, and the World Health Organization (WHO) standardized gender-specific growth chart was used to classify children as being overweight and obese. Statistical analysis used: The statistical evaluation was conducted utilising SPSS version 23.0. Chi-square analyses were applied to analyse the relationship of independent variables with overweight/obesity status. Variables showing statistical significance at a 5% level were further analysed using multiple logistic regression. Results: It was discovered that the rate of overweight and obesity among Jodhpur schoolchildren was 23.2%, with 22.9% classified as overweight and 0.3% as obese. The analysis revealed that children attending urban and public schools exhibited higher rates of obesity and overweight compared to those in rural and private schools. Conclusions: The study highlights a considerable burden of overweight among children enrolled in schools of Jodhpur, warranting the implementation of sustainable intervention aimed at encouraging physical exercise and a balanced diet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, there has been increased awareness of obesity as a condition that carries a high level of stigma, as well as growing recognition of its prevalence and harm. Despite the increasing body of research on this topic, there is a gap in the literature regarding mechanisms that generate or exacerbate perceptions of weight stigma, especially within families and pediatric healthcare settings. The present study aims to identify potential stigma-generating mechanisms by focusing on inter-relational dynamics within these contexts. We conducted in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 11 families and analyzed the data by applying sociological theories on health identities and authenticity. Our study found four themes that represent potential stigma-generating mechanisms by being explicitly related to familial health identities and healthcare authenticity: (1) negotiating and reconstruction familial self-understanding, (2) between guilt, shame and conflicts, (3) navigating weight perceptions, and (4) the necessity of positivity and relevance. Our study shows the complexities of weight stigma within family and pediatric healthcare settings, emphasizing the need for sensitive and tailored support, as well as the value of working authentically as crucial aspects in preventing and/or reducing stigma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Weight bias is prevalent for people in large bodies who are trying to conceive, pregnant, or postpartum. Using the theory of memorable messages as a framework, we explored the sources, valence, and content of messages that fat individuals (N = 237) recalled about their bodies before pregnancy through the postpartum stage. The most common source of memorable messages was healthcare providers, and most (77.2%) messages were negatively valenced. Thematic analysis revealed four overarching themes (fat mothers are bad mothers, denial of competent treatment, weight-normative commentary on fat bodies, and weight-inclusive counter-narratives). Our findings illuminate the significance of patient-practitioner communication across the pregnancy trajectory and highlight how counter-narratives can disrupt negative messages about fat pregnancy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pharmaceutical companies influence whether we perceive conditions as relevant to the medical sector and in need of pharmaceutical intervention (pharmaceuticalization). Recently, through coordinated media and professional campaigns, pharmaceutical companies are coming to influence our understanding of bodily size. Beyond merely affecting conversations about how weight should be understood and engaged with in healthcare, however, pharmaceutical companies are swaying how society approaches weight stigma. By elevating certain voices, those of organizations and clinicians with whom they partner, and not others, including fat acceptance activists, pharmaceutical companies are having a regressive impact on body acceptance veiled as "obesity" stigma advocacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many domains of research suggest that high favourability to social power and low favourability to egalitarian ideals predict more prejudice against other groups. In the present article, we describe theory and evidence suggesting that the relations between power, egalitarianism and prejudice may be reversed for one group: fat men. Using both implicit and explicit measures, we found across four studies (N = 602) that target gender moderated the relation between values and attitude toward fat people. For male targets, implicitly but not explicitly measured positivity toward power (over egalitarian) values predicted significantly more spontaneous positive attitudes toward fat (over slim) people. Further, implicit attitude toward power (over egalitarian) values predicted the time‐pressured decision to choose a fat male. Together, the implicit evaluation of values allows us to identify processes in inter‐group attitudes and behaviours that would not be possible to detect using explicit measures of values alone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human agents immersed in metaverse technologies such as virtual reality (VR) are routinely disconnected from their actual physical appearance and embodied in another virtual body, referred to as self-avatar. Such body transformations can have implications for patients with eating disorders, or persons with extreme body dissatisfaction (BD). Changes in BD, weight anxiety, or body image are theoretically linked to visual selective attention, which can be measured with eye tracking. In the present study, 43 women with high or low BD were immersed in animated body weight-manipulated self-avatars in VR. Before a brief mirror exposure with their self-avatars, they experienced synchronous visuomotor and visuo-tactile contingencies in VR to increase embodiment, delivered through small movement exercises with real-time animation from first-person perspective and passive haptics. In a crossover study design, self-avatar weight was manipulated (normal weight vs. overweight) in both groups (low BD vs. high BD), and subjective experience was assessed before and after exposure. In contrast to our hypotheses, BD was not affected by the self-avatar condition. Embodiment decreased during mirror exposure, possibly due to the avatars wearing head-mounted displays. Interestingly, disembodiment was stronger in women with low BD. Furthermore, eye tracking showed that participants with high BD looked longer at weight-related body parts when immersed in the overweight self-avatar, whereas participants with low BD looked longer at weight-related body parts when immersed in the normal weight self-avatar. Overall, the results support body-specific visual attention and suggest that particularly participants with low BD show stronger disembodiment during self-avatar mirror exposure, possibly alleviating momentary body experience. Preregistration: https://doi.org/10.23668/psycharchives.4949 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to evaluate the structural validity of the Universal Measures of Bias – Fat (UMB Fat) among Malaysian healthcare practitioners using Rasch analysis. Data from a cross-sectional survey of 268 public and private doctors and allied health practitioners in Peninsular Malaysia were used for this analysis. Using Rasch analysis, overall model fit and item fit of the summary UMB Fat and domain scores were examined, together with unidimensionality, response threshold ordering, internal consistency, measurement invariance, and item targeting. Data showed overall misfit to the Rasch model for both the summary UMB Fat score and domain scores. Whilst unidimensionality was observed for the domain scores, this was not evident for the summary score where multiple local dependencies were present. Disordered thresholds were observed for the response format, in which the majority improved with modification. Suboptimal targeting was also detected with an uneven distribution of items at the upper and lower end of the logit scale for the summary and domain scores. Despite this, excellent internal consistency reliability was observed (person separation index: 0.76–0.89), and no measurement invariance was detected. The Rasch model supports reporting of the UMB Fat domain scores but not the summary score. Several issues related to local dependencies and response format were identified that could benefit from refining the UMB Fat to improve measurement accuracy, particularly when used by healthcare practitioners in Asian countries. • Examine the structural validity of the UMB Fat in an Asian healthcare population. • The Rasch model supports reporting domain scores but not the summary UMB Fat score. • Issues with local dependencies and the response format need further re-evaluation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Objective Despite the rising prevalence of people living with obesity, physicians are providing suboptimal care to these individuals, which may be a consequence of inadequate education in weight management and negative attitudes toward people living with obesity. Internal Medicine (IM) residency is an ideal setting to address physicians' attitudes toward people living with obesity. However, there is a paucity of recent literature on this topic. This study sought to assess the current attitudes of IM residents toward obesity as a disease, people living with obesity, and obesity treatment. Methods A cross‐sectional survey was conducted in 2020 across two IM programs assessing residents' attitudes toward obesity as a disease, people living with obesity, and obesity treatment. RESULTS Among 42 residents who participated in the survey, 64% were women; 31 percent were Post Graduate Year 1, 31% PGY‐2, and 38% PGY‐3. Mean attitude scores were high on statements regarding obesity as a chronic disease [4.7 (SD 0.4)] and its association with serious medical conditions [4.9 (SD 0.3)]. Residents had overall positive attitudes toward people living with obesity. In contrast, residents felt negatively regarding their level of success in helping patients lose weight [2.0 (SD 0.7)]. CONCLUSIONS While residents recognized obesity as a chronic disease and had positive attitudes toward people living with obesity, their low ratings regarding weight management success suggest that targeted educational efforts are needed to increase obesity treatment self‐efficacy.

Weight bias and weight stigma is present in healthcare settings negatively affecting people with obesity. Healthcare professionals should be aware of how their potential bias and stigma may be impacting clients with obesity. With obesity projected to rise among the world, the healthcare environment needs to be more accepting and accommodating. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Evidence points towards heightened anxiety and attention biases (AB) towards disorder‐specific (threatening) stimuli in patients with anorexia nervosa (AN). To date, it is unclear how anxiety and AB interact in eating disorders (ED). The present study tests the causal role of anxiety by inducing anxiety before a dot‐probe task with either ED‐specific stimuli or unspecific negative (threat‐related) information. We expected that anxiety would elicit AB for ED‐specific, but not for unspecific threat‐related stimuli. Methods: Adolescents with AN (AN, n = 32) or depression (DEP, n = 27) and healthy controls (HC, n = 29) underwent an anxiety induction or a low anxiety control task before a pictorial dot‐probe task with either under‐/overweight body‐related pictures or non‐disorder‐related threatening pictures (angry faces). BMI, level of ED symptoms, anxiety, stress, and depression were assessed at baseline. Results: The anxiety induction did not affect the observed attention pattern. AN showed an AB towards underweight body pictures compared to HC, whereas no disorder‐unspecific threat‐related AB emerged. Regression analyses revealed that only anxiety predicted the AB towards underweight body pictures. Discussion: Further experimental research may integrate eye tracking as an additional tool, or collect information on body dissatisfaction to obtain a better understanding of how anxiety biases attention. Highlights: Patients with AN show attention bias towards underweight body picturesAnxiety manipulation did not affect attention biasState anxiety predicted the strength of biased attention towards underweight body pictures [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Obesity is a serious chronic disease that adversely affects health and quality of life. However, a significant percentage of people do not participate in or adhere to weight loss programs. Therefore, a multidisciplinary approach is needed to identify critical barriers to effective obesity management and to examine health practitioners' attitudes and behaviors towards effective obesity treatment. Methods: This systematic review was conducted in accordance with PRISMA 2020. Eligible studies were identified through a systematic review of the literature using Medline, Scopus, Cochrane, Google Scholar, Web of Science, and Embase databases from January 1, 2011 to March 2, 2021. Results: A total of 57 articles were included. Data on 12 663 physicians were extracted from a total of 35 quantitative articles. Some of the most commonly perceived attitude issues included "obesity has a huge impact on overall health", "obesity is a disease" and "HCPs are to blame". Health professionals were more inclined to believe in "using BMI to assess obesity," "advice to increase physical activity," and "diet/calorie reduction advice." The major obstacles to optimal treatment of obesity were "lack of motivation", "lack of time" and "lack of success". Conclusion: Although the majority of health professionals consider obesity to be a serious condition with significant impact on overall health, nearly half of the visits include counseling, pharmacological or surgical interventions regarding lifestyle changes. Increasing the length of physician visits as well as tailoring appropriate training programs could improve health care for obesity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Systematic research on the role of social affirmation from one's religious community on body evaluations is absent. This study therefore explored the relationships among feeling affirmed-from-church, weight-rejection sensitivity, and body evaluations. Drawing from self-affirmation theory, we tested whether a social aspect of religiosity (i.e., feeling affirmed from one's religious community) attenuated the relationship between weight-rejection anxiety and body dissatisfaction, controlling for body mass, affect, and church attendance. We also examined gender differences in religiosity, body image, and fat talk in secular and religious circles in a sample of young adults in the USA (187F, 84M; Mage = 18.59, SD = 0.83). As predicted, both men and women reported hearing less fat-talk at church than among friends, and women reported a positive relation between feeling affirmed-from-church and hearing body-acceptance talk at church. The moderation prediction was supported for women. Greater affirmation-from-church weakened the effect of women's weight sensitivity on body satisfaction (but not weight esteem). For men, affirmation-from-church strengthened the effect of their weight sensitivity on body dissatisfaction and low weight esteem. Feeling affirmed from church may facilitate women's body satisfaction despite their weight-sensitivities. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Obesity is not only an important modifiable cardiovascular risk factor but also a chronic disease with relevant consequences on morbidity and mortality in the general population. According to European guidelines, cardiologists must recognize and treat it properly. Aims: To assess perception of obesity as a modifiable pathological condition and the importance to treat it in a real-world sample of cardiologists and residents in cardiology. Methods: A nationwide, web-based, epidemiological survey on the perception of obesity as a disease and as a modifiable cardiovascular risk factors was conducted in 137 medical doctors (cardiologists and residents in cardiology). Participants filled with their answers a questionnaire of 31 questions about perception of obesity and strategies on cardiovascular disease prevention in clinical practice. Results: Of 137 individuals enrolled in our survey only 5 (3.6%) reported to measure waist circumference in their clinical practice and only 3 (2.2%) reported to measure waist-to-hip ratio. One-hundred-twenty participants (87.6%) would not prescribe an anti-obesity drug to a patient with grade II obesity. Sixty-eight (49.6%) participants have never read or heard of a clinical trial on obesity. On the other hand, 134 (97.8%) routinely measured blood pressure in their clinical practice, 129 (94.2%) would prescribe a statin for a hypercholesterolemic patient and 132 (96.4%) subjects have read/heard a clinical trial on type 2 diabetes in their life. Conclusions: Although obesity is a chronic disease and an important modifiable cardiovascular risk factor such as arterial hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, cigarette smoke and diabetes, cardiologists and residents in cardiology substantially underestimate it ignoring that it should be treated as a proper disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The news media has consistently promoted weight loss as a solution to the "obesity epidemic", despite research refuting the connection between fatness and health. In this paper, I examine the framing of weight loss in news articles during lockdown months of 2020, addressing whether healthist ideologies about weight loss persisted or declined during the pandemic. Most articles reflected a healthism lens, encouraging weight loss to achieve good health and to prevent COVID-19. However, some articles rejected weight loss or utilized a Health at Every Size perspective. This study has implications for research on body surveillance, neoliberalism, public health, and media reporting about weight loss and COVID-19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Physical appearance and, specifically, weight are common reasons for cyberhate attacks among adolescents. Using a between-subject experimental design, this study focuses on the bystanders of such attacks on Instagram. We investigate bystanders' assessments in the form of two moral disengagement (MD) mechanisms—victim blaming and minimizing consequences—and we compare the assessments of attacks that are diversified by the victim's weight (i.e., a victim who is plus-size and a victim who is thinner). We also examine the moderating roles of bystanders' prejudice against people who are plus-size in the form of the so-called anti-fat attitudes, their frequency of viewing body-positive online content, and gender. The study's data come from an online survey conducted in 2020 with a representative sample of 658 Czech adolescents, aged 13–18. We tested our hypotheses with structural equation modeling. The results show that the two MD mechanisms work differently. The victim's displayed weight affected the bystanders' tendency to victim blame: adolescents blamed the victim who is plus-size more than the victim who is thinner, but the victim's weight made no difference in minimizing the consequences of the incident. A moderating effect for anti-fat attitudes and gender was found for victim blaming. Bystanders with higher anti-fat attitudes and boys blamed the victim who is plus-size more than the victim who is thinner. On the other hand, there was no effect for the frequency of viewing body-positive online content for either of the MD mechanisms. The results are discussed with regard to the differences between the two mechanisms and the practical implications for educational and prevention programs for youth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phenomenon: Bias against individuals with obesity in medical settings has negative implications for patients, including stigmatization, poor health outcomes, and reduced healthcare utilization. This study explored reflections of medical students when confronted with their own implicit obesity bias. Approach: A group of 188 pre-clinical second-year medical students from George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences completed the Weight Implicit Association Test (IAT) in 2020 and were instructed to write a reflective response based on their results. Participants reflected upon their preferences ("fat" vs. "thin") and described the factors that influenced their perceptions of obesity. Inductive coding techniques were used to generate themes from medical students' responses using Dedoose Version 8.3.35 (SocioCultural Research Consultants LLC, Los Angeles, California). Findings: Regarding IAT results, 7% of medical students preferred "fat over thin," 14% had no preference, and 78% preferred "thin over fat." Reflection themes highlighted medical students' difficulty accepting IAT results, perspectives on the origins of obesity in individuals, personal and family challenges with obesity and body image, medical training's perceived influence on bias, reservations about discussing obesity with patients, and desires to change current and future practices. Insights: Many medical students expressed a desire to provide optimal care for patients of all weight classes despite demonstrating a strong unconscious bias against individuals with obesity on the IAT. Medical school should provide targeted opportunities to acknowledge and mitigate obesity bias by expanding on medical students' pre-established and often harmful understandings of obesity and highlighting the complexities of this disease. Such training would better equip medical students to facilitate successful interactions with patients as future physicians. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Body size perception among young women in Asian and Western countries is believed to be quite different, however, there are no confirming studies. We analyzed the data from young women aged between 20 and 40 who participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2001–2018) of the United States (US) and Korea. US young women had higher rates of being overweight and obesity than Korean young women, and there was no significant change over 20 years. In both countries, the percentage of properly estimating one's own weight exceeded 70 percent and remained relatively steady. The percentage of overestimating one's own weight was only about 10 percent in Korea in 2001, but increased to 20 percent. In the case of the US, the percentage was about 15 percent in 2001–2002, but has since continued to decline. The percentage of underestimating one's own body weight was about 18 percent in Korea in 2001, but decreased to about 8 percent. In the case of the US, the percentage was very low at about 10 percent in 2001–2002, but gradually increased to about 18 percent in 2017–2018. In conclusion, young women in the US tend to underestimate their body size, and those in Korea tend to overestimate it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Experiencing weight stigma during pregnancy is detrimental to psychosocial health outcomes, including increasing maternal stress and undermining engagement in health behaviors. Guided by a recent socioecological framework, close interpersonal relationships are integral in pregnancy to facilitate healthy behaviors and protect maternal mental health, but they may also be sources that project weight stigma. The purpose of this study was to characterize weight stigma experienced during pregnancy and postpartum from close relationships including partners, immediate family, extended family, and friends. Method: Women who were pregnant or up to 1 year postpartum completed a survey that assessed sources of weight stigma since becoming pregnant. A thematic analysis was performed to code open-ended responses to understand the lived experiences of pregnancy-related weight stigma experienced from close relations. Results: Of the 501 women who completed the online survey, 157 indicated experiencing weight stigma from close relations. Average frequency of weight stigma from close relations was 1.83 ("less than once a month" to "a few times a month"). Weight-stigmatizing examples from close relations during pregnancy included negative assumptions about maternal or fetal health and maternal lifestyle behaviors based on weight gain; comparing women to pregnant body ideals; and making comments that resulted in women judging themselves poorly as a pregnant individual or mother. Conclusions: Close relationships can be sources of pregnancy-related weight stigma. This may not only increase risk for adverse stigma-related consequences, but also could cut off the important benefits of maternal social support resulting in poor mental health outcomes and health behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the issue of anti-fat bias in the singing voice studio and its impact on fat singers. The authors provide background information on the prevalence of fatness and the history of anti-fat bias, encouraging voice teachers to examine implicit anti-fat bias and offering tangible pedagogic modifications to foster a sense of belonging for all students in the voice studio.

Background: Obesity is a complex health issue affecting the quality of life of individuals and contributing to an unsustainable strain on healthcare professionals and national health systems. National policy guidelines indicate that general practice is best suited to deliver obesity healthcare, however, obesity rates continue to rise worldwide indicating interventions are ineffective in this space. The aim of this study was to explore the weight management experiences from patient perspectives. Methods: This qualitative study used semi-structured interviews with 16 rural Waikato general practice patients. Interviews were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. Results: Four themes were identified: Inconsistent Information, Significance of Holistic Factors, Obesity Centre Need, and Education. Participants expressed frustration at contradictory health messages, commercial company and 'expert' definition distrust, and that 'holistic' aspects to health significant to the weight management journey were unable to be addressed in general practice. Conclusion: Whilst primary care is positioned as suitable for delivering obesity healthcare, this study found that participants do not perceive general practice to be equipped to deliver this care. Instead, participants argued for a specialist obesity centre capable of meeting all their obesity healthcare needs. Further, wider issues including on-line commodification of health and neo-liberal capitalism - factors that exploit people with a stigmatised health issue - can cause further harm to the participant. A radical modernisation of education, information, and resources from regulated, qualified and 'trusted' healthcare professionals who can provide safe, non-stigmatising supportive services is recommended to meet the unique and changing food climate, reduce obesity rates and improve health outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Background: Meal replacement therapy (MRT) is a structured treatment that is effective for short‐term weight reduction in adolescents with severe obesity. However, like other interventions, MRT response is variable. Objective: The goal of the current study was to characterize the experience of adolescents with severe obesity participating in MRT. Methods: Seventeen adolescents with severe obesity participated in semi‐structured, individual interviews about their experience participating in MRT. The authors used a biopsychosocial model as the theoretical framework and data was analysed using Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis. A biopsychosocial model views an individual's health as a blend of biological characteristics, behavioural factors, and social conditions. Results: Results showed that adolescents with severe obesity described three biopsychosocial factors that were central to their experience with MRT: (1) scheduling and planning, (2) social support and pressure, and (3) intrapersonal factors. Specifically, adolescents with severe obesity identified that planning ahead, social support, and intrapersonal changes (e.g. self‐confidence) can promote engagement in MRT. On the other hand, unplanned schedule changes, social pressures, and different intrapersonal factors (e.g., taste preference) can make engagement challenging. Conclusions: Adolescents provided information on factors that supported or hindered their engagement in MRT, and themes were consistent with prior literature on health behaviour change. Overall, adolescents would recommend MRT to other teenagers who carry extra weight. Future research can use the rich information provided by adolescents with severe obesity to enhance and individualize treatment options. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined whether body appreciation mediates the relationships between anti-fat microaggression experiences and perceived physical and mental health. Using a cross-sectional survey design, our study included 384 adult cisgender women in the United States. We found that anti-fat microaggression experiences had a negative association with body appreciation, and perceived physical and mental health. Body appreciation had a positive relationship to perceived physical and mental health. Our study further suggests that body appreciation is an important modifiable factor that mediates the relationships between anti-fat microaggression experiences and perceived mental and physical health. Implications for practice and research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Obesity and psychiatric disorders have high prevalence and are both considered major health problems. Within the last decades, the rates of obesity have risen over 6%, while the prevalence of psychiatric disorders is over 12% for children and adolescents. The aim of this study was to systematically review the evidence regarding the relation of obesity and psychiatric disorders in childhood and adolescence. This review, based on the PRISMA guidelines, included cross-sectional studies published within the last decade, pertaining to the relation between psychiatric disorders and obesity in children and adolescents up to the age of 19 years. Studies on eating disorders were excluded. A total of 14 studies of 23,442 children and adolescents that investigated the relation of obesity with anxiety, mood disorders, and psychosis were included in this systematic review. Nine of the included studies reported a significant relationship between the psychiatric disorder under investigation and obesity. Understanding the nexus between obesity and psychiatric disorders in children and adolescents is of great importance, given the alarming increase in both conditions in youth. Such findings could facilitate the development and implementation of targeted interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Given the increased prevalence of obesity and the existence of negative attitudes among health care providers toward patients with obesity (PWO), strategies are needed to assist nursing students in identifying and examining attitudes and beliefs related to the provision of care for individuals with obesity. Nursing school curricula should incorporate effective interventions for students in order to reduce stigmas and to modify negative attitudes and behaviors that interfere with quality nursing care for PWO. This article describes the process of developing and implementing an innovative bariatric sensitivity intervention (BSI) for prelicensure nursing students. Methods: The BSI includes six trigger films that address the multi-faceted aspects of caring for PWO and provoke reflection on obesity-related attitudes and beliefs, as well as a facilitated debrief. Conclusion: We discuss the practical aspects of video production and the successful use of multimedia instruction to affect prelicensure nursing students' behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated whether education about gene-by-environment interaction (G × E) concepts could improve G × E knowledge and positively affect empathy and weight stigma. We conducted a randomized trial using a 2 × 2 between-subjects design. Online. Five hundred eighty-two American participants from the Prolific platform. Participants were randomly assigned to watch an educational or a control video. Participants then watched a set of vignette scenarios that depicted what it is like to have a predisposition toward obesogenic eating behaviors from either a first-person or third-person perspective. Participants completed questionnaires measuring G × E knowledge, causal attributions, weight stigma, and empathy postintervention. Two-by-two between-subjects ANOVAs and exploratory mediation analyses were conducted. Participants who watched the educational video demonstrated greater G × E knowledge, reported higher empathy toward the characters in the vignette scenarios and held fewer stigmatizing attitudes (notably blame) toward individuals with higher weight. Exploratory mediation analyses indicated that the educational video led to these positive downstream effects by increasing the extent to which participants attributed genetic causes to eating behaviors. Education about G × E causes of eating behaviors can have beneficial downstream effects on attitudes toward people with higher weight. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background While maternal adherence to a healthy lifestyle was shown to be associated with a lower risk of obesity in offspring, the potential role of overall parental lifestyles has not yet been explored. We aimed to address this gap by exploring whether parental adherence to an overall healthy lifestyle was associated with a lower risk of obesity in offspring. Methods We included 5881 children and adolescents aged 6-15 years at enrolment in the 2010, 2012, and 2014 waves of the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) who were free of obesity and followed them until 2020. Parental healthy lifestyle score at study baseline was composed of five modifiable lifestyle factors (0-5; 1 for each): never smoking, non-habitual drinking, weekly exercise, modified dietary diversity score ≥5 points, and body mass index (BMI) of 18.5-23.9 kg/m2. We defined obesity according to the age- and gender-specific cutoffs by the BMI percentile curves for Chinese children aged 6-18 years. We used multivariable Cox proportional hazard models to examine the association between parental healthy lifestyle score (both as continuous and categorical variables) and risk of offspring obesity. Results Overall, 597 (10.2%) offspring developed obesity during a median follow-up of 6 years. Compared to the lowest tertile of parental healthy lifestyle score, participants in the highest tertile had a 42% (hazard ratio (HR) = 0.58; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.45-0.74) lower risk of obesity. Both maternal (HR = 0.75; 95% CI = 0.61-0.92) and paternal (HR = 0.73; 95% CI = 0.60-0.89) healthy lifestyle scores were associated with lower risks of obesity in offspring. For specific lifestyle factors, we observed beneficial associations for paternal diverse diet (HR = 0.73; 95% CI = 0.60-0.88) and healthy BMI (HR = 0.65; 95% CI = 0.55-0.78). Conclusions Adherence to an overall parental healthier lifestyle was associated with a lower risk of obesity in childhood and adolescence. This finding highlights the potential benefits of promoting a healthy lifestyle among parents for the primary prevention of offspring obesity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many instruments recommended for measuring attitudes toward fatness and "obesity" were developed in the 1990s, a time when the "obesity epidemic" was gaining momentum and anti‐fat rhetoric was normative. Consequently, these instruments have tended to focus on assessing negative appraisals of fatness and fat people and reinforce weight stigma. As fat discourse has matured and expanded to incorporate fat positive attitudes, a nonstigmatizing way of measuring contemporary fat attitudes and beliefs in quantitative research is required. To address this need, we developed the Fat Attitudes Assessment Toolkit (FAAT). In this article, we describe the development of the FAAT and provide initial evidence for the scale's validity and psychometric properties across three studies. Study 1 included a systematic process for developing the extensive item pool that was reviewed by subject matter experts and a community panel. We explored and identified an initial multidimensional structure for the FAAT. Study 2 expanded and confirmed the factor structure with additional analyses in an independent sample and provided evidence for the overall reliability of the subscale scores and reliability as a function of gender and identification as fat. Construct and criterion validity of the subscale scores were also demonstrated. Study 3 provided evidence for the test‐retest reliability of the FAAT subscales scores over time. The FAAT includes nine robust scales: Empathy, Activism Orientation, Size Acceptance, Attractiveness, Critical Health, General Complexity, Socioeconomic Complexity, Responsibility, and Body Acceptance. Specific subscales can be combined to form two composite measures: Fat Acceptance and Attribution Complexity. The scales that comprise the FAAT measure specific elements of attitudes towards fat people that are frequently targeted in weight stigma reduction research and activism; the FAAT thus offers a powerful and precise method for evaluating weight stigma reduction interventions that allows for an assessment of shifts toward more positive attitudes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Background: Little is known about parent and adolescent motivations for engaging in weight communication. Objectives: To assess parent and adolescent motivations for engaging in, or avoiding, weight communication, and whether these reasons differed across sex, race/ethnicity, weight, and engagement in weight management. Methods: Independent samples of parents (N = 1936) and unrelated adolescents (N = 2032) completed questionnaires assessing their agreement with different reasons they engage in, or avoid, parent‐adolescent weight communication, using 7‐point Likert scales (strongly‐disagree to strongly‐agree). Results: Parents, irrespective of sex, race/ethnicity, and child's weight status, expressed stronger motivations for engaging in weight communication in order for their child to feel good about his/her weight and body size compared to being motivated because a health professional raised their child's weight as a concern. Adolescent motivations for weight communication with parents stemmed from health concerns and worry about their weight; avoidance stemmed from feeling embarrassed, upset, or not wanting to obsess about weight. Differences emerged across sex and race/ethnicity but were most pronounced by weight status and weight management. Conclusion: Parents and adolescents have different motivations for engaging in or avoiding weight communication. Protecting adolescents' emotional wellbeing and body esteem are viewed as reasons for both engaging in or avoiding weight communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: This paper focuses on how social inequality is associated with overweight and obesity in children. There is a lack of research with a focus on an important distinction in social inequality, namely geography. The aim of this study was to reduce this knowledge gap by looking closely at the links between rurality and overweight. Methods: The findings in this paper are based on in-depth interviews with school nurses and teachers in rural Norway. The focus was on their experiences with and knowledge about overweight and obesity numbers in rural versus urban areas. Results: We used Bourdieu's terminology to address the challenges related to urban–rural differences, and found that cultural factors connected to tradition, identity and courtesy play an important role in the rural overweight and obesity discourse. Conclusions: Actors and 'experts' working with overweight and obesity and national guidelines need to understand rural contexts and customs and address problems of the countryside on rural, not exclusively urban, premises. Different contexts imply different needs when it comes to reducing the inequalities between rural and urban areas regarding overweight and obesity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article details peer-reviewed research studies aimed to identify barriers that nurses experience when undertaking health promotion to address overweight or obesity in children, young people and their families. Findings revealed barriers including lack of time, training and resources, parental motivation and response and the new normal. The importance of education and work-based skills training on structured interventions including broaching challenging conversations is discussed.

Taylor Swift is arguably one of the most popular and influential celebrities. Of particular interest is her power as a role model for millions of fans across the world. Swift has spoken openly about different cultural issues, including her struggles with disordered eating and diet culture. Thus, the purpose of this paper was to explore whether Swift's disclosures of her own eating and body image struggles influenced her fans. Over 200 TikTok and Reddit posts related to Swift and eating disorders or body image, as well as their associated comments, were qualitatively coded to examine relevant themes. Key themes included: 1) Swift as a role model for disordered eating recovery; 2) use of or identification with specific Swift songs to illustrate struggles with eating or body image; 3) continued objectification of Swift's body; and 4) conflicted reaction to a scene in Swift's video for 'Anti-Hero' that depicted the word 'fat' on a scale. Overall, Swift's disclosures of her own eating/body image struggles positively influenced her fans' relationships with their eating behaviors and body image. This analysis illustrates the positive influence celebrities can have while also highlighting the limitations of personal disclosures to impact understanding of systemic issues like anti-fat bias. • Taylor Swift is a positive role model for users. • Swift content positively impacted fans' disordered relationships to food and body. • Swift content can reduce stigma of eating disorders and contribute to recovery. • In contrast, themes of objectification and anti-fat bias were present. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]