Familial links in fat stereotypes - Obesity in Children and Adolescents

Nutrition Research Newsletter, Feb, 2004

The idealization of the lean physique, combined with epidemic rates of obesity and widespread concern about body weight and dieting, has created a social environment that is extremely hostile towards obesity and obese persons. Negative attitudes toward obesity, or fat stereotypes, are consistently reported in the literature. Relative to lean individuals, overweight individuals are described as lazy, sloppy, lacking in self-discipline, overindulgent and having poor personal hygiene.

Children also show negative attitudes toward obese persons as early as the age of three. Even though these negative attitudes are pervasive, not all individuals display them. Therefore, it is pertinent to examine characteristics, such as educational background, weight status, and investment in physical appearance that may influence an individual's likelihood of endorsing fat stereotypes. It is important to examine the familial and peer environments with children, as well as individual characteristics that are associated with the likelihood of developing negative attitudes toward obesity. Therefore, a recent study assessed familial links in fat stereotypes and predictors of stereotypes among 9-year old girls and their parents.

The subjects included 178 nine-year old girls and their parents who were enrolled in a longitudinal study of girls' health and development from 5 yrs to 15 yrs of age. Fat stereotypes were assessed using a questionnaire developed for this study. Nine statements were generated and each statement was asked for both thin and fat people. Characteristics that were assessed included happiness, intelligence, attractiveness, etc. Predictors of fat stereotypes that were examined include weight status (BMI; girls and parents), education (parents), income (parents), self-investment in physical appearance (parents), maladaptive eating attitudes (girls), and parenting practices and peer interactions focused on body shape and weight loss (girls). The Children's Attitude Test (chEAT) was used to examine girls' maladaptive eating attitudes, while the Appearance Schemas Inventory (ASI) was used to examine the parents' beliefs about the importance of physical appearance. Lastly, the Social Desirability Scale examined the inclination of parents to respond to questions in a socially desirable manner.

The results showed that both the girls and their parents exhibited fat stereotypes. Specifically, the following characteristics were significantly more likely to be attributed to thin people than fat people: having lots of friends (girls), happy (girls, parents), smart (girls), good looking (girls, parents) and the general statement that it is good to be thin (girls, parents). Fathers who were more educated and had a higher family income were more likely to endorse fat stereotypes, as were mothers and fathers with a high investment in their physical appearance. Although no associations were found between girls' and parents' fat stereotypes, girls were more likely to endorse fat stereotypes when interactions with parents and peers focused on body shape and weight loss. Girls were also more likely to support fat stereotypes when they reported higher levels of maladaptive eating. There was no relationship found between weight status and fat stereotypes.

Results from this study support a large body of research indicating that children and adults adopt fat stereotypes and that overweight and non-overweight individuals are equally likely to report stereotypical attitudes. Future studies can expand on these results by using more diverse samples, particularly ethnic minority samples and by examining in more detail the links between promoting a lean ideal and fat stereotypes. These are important topics to pursue because fat stereotypes have negative implications on the mental health of children and adults, and discriminatory practices emanating from fat stereotypes have broad-reaching negative implications on the accessibility of health care, educational opportunities, employment opportunities and the social treatment of overweight individuals.

Kirsten Krahnstoever Davison and Leann Lipps Birch. Predictors of fat stereotypes among 9-year-old girls and their parents. Obesity Research 12(1): 86-94 (January 2004) [Correspondence: K. Davison, Department of Health Policy, Management and Behavior, University of Albany, SUNY, One University Place, Room 183, Rennselaer, NY 12144. E-mail: kdavison@albany.edu.]