Explore the vast range of titles available.

Weight bias is a global health challenge and community members are endorsed as the most common source of weight bias. The nature of weight biases specifically against preconception, pregnant, and postpartum (PPP) women from the perspective of community members is not known, especially in terms of cross-cultural trends. We investigated the magnitude of explicit and implicit weight bias and profiles of characteristics associated with harbouring weight bias. We conducted a multinational investigation of clusters of factors associated with weight bias against PPP women (May-July 2023). Community members from Australia, Canada, United States (US), United Kingdom (UK), Malaysia, and India completed a cross-sectional survey measuring explicit and implicit weight biases, beliefs about weight controllability, and awareness of sociocultural body ideals. Hierarchical multiple regression and latent profile analyses identified clusters of factors associated with weight bias. Participants from India reported the lowest explicit weight bias (B = -0.45, p = 0.02). Participants from Australia (B = -0.14, p = 0.04) and the UK (B = -0.16, p = 0.02) (vs. US) reported the lowest implicit weight bias. Three distinct profiles were identified clustering on body mass index (BMI) and weight-controllability beliefs: low-BMI/moderate-beliefs, high-BMI/more biased beliefs, and high-BMI/less biased beliefs. Profile membership varied by country of residence and weight bias outcomes with low-BMI/moderate-beliefs profiles containing more people from non-Western countries and with low explicit weight bias. Explicit and implicit weight bias was harboured by participants across all included nations, although less pronounced in non-Western countries. Our profiles highlight that individuals who held a stronger belief that weight is controllable, regardless of their body weight, should be targeted for interventions to eliminate weight stigma.

Background Weight stigma is a societal phenomenon that is very prevalent in healthcare, precipitating poor patient-provider relationships, discontinuity of care, and delayed cancer screening. Little research, though, has investigated weight stigma in prenatal and postpartum healthcare. To address this gap, this study examined the prevalence and frequency of weight-stigmatizing experiences in prenatal and postpartum healthcare. Methods 501 pregnant and postpartum women responded to an online survey where they reported whether they had experienced weight stigma in prenatal or postpartum healthcare and, if so, how frequently. Participants also responded to questions about how providers had treated them regarding their weight and their reactions to these experiences. A subset of participants ( n  = 80) also provided examples of their experiences, and these were subjected to a thematic analysis and coded for overarching themes. Results Nearly 1 in 5 women ( n  = 92) reported experiencing weight stigma in healthcare settings. Percentages differed by BMI, with 28.4% of participants with pre-pregnancy obesity endorsing healthcare providers as a source of weight stigma. Experiences occurred between “less than once a month” and “a few times a month.” Obstetricians were the most commonly-reported source (33.8%), followed by nurses (11.3%). Participants reported feeling judged, shamed, and guilty because of their weight during healthcare visits. Additionally, 37 participants (7.7%) reported having changed providers because of treatment regarding their weight. Many also reported that they expected to feel or had felt uncomfortable seeking help with breastfeeding from a healthcare professional. Finally, thematic analysis of the open-ended examples identified four key themes: (1) negative attitudes and unkind or disrespectful treatment from providers; (2) evaluative comments about their weight; (3) healthcare providers focusing on their high-risk status and potential negative consequences (often when birth outcomes were ultimately healthy); and (4) inappropriate or demeaning comments. Conclusions Weight stigma may be a common experience in pregnancy and postpartum healthcare. Providers need additional training to avoid stigmatizing their patients and inadvertently undermining patient-provider relationships, quality of care, and health outcomes.

Background Weight stigma is defined as negative misconception and stereotypes associated with weight, and it is commonly experienced during pregnancy. Weight stigma during pregnancy may be sourced from trusted close relationships including family members, partners, and friends. Social support is a necessary psychosocial factor for optimal health and wellbeing throughout pregnancy, and weight stigma sourced from these integral relationships may negatively affect health outcomes. The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of weight stigma from close others on maternal health outcomes. Methods A survey was administered via Qualtrics to pregnant women (≥ 13 weeks, residence within the United States or Canada, ≥ 18 years old, singleton pregnancy). During pregnancy, participants completed questionnaires identifying whether they had experienced weight stigma from a close relationship (i.e., family, partners, or friends), how often, and relationship quality scales for each source. At three months postpartum, they were surveyed about their pregnancy outcomes including gestational diabetes, gestational hypertension, preeclampsia, chronic pain, anxiety/depression. They also completed the Edinburgh Postpartum Depression Scale (EPDS), and a linear regression was performed with frequency of weight stigma. Logistic regressions were performed between frequency of weight stigma and health outcomes. If significant, relationship quality was tested as a potential mediator. Significance was accepted as p  < 0.05. Results 463 participants completed both surveys of which 86% had experienced weight stigma from close others. Frequency of weight stigma was significantly associated with chronic pain (β = 0.689, p  < 0.001), and anxiety/depression (β = 0.404, p  = 0.005). The relationship between frequency of weight stigma in pregnancy and chronic pain was mediated by quality of all relationships. Family relationship quality mediated between frequency of weights stigma and anxiety/depression. Frequency of weight stigma was significantly associated with depression symptom severity measured by the EPDS (β = 0.634, p  < 0.001). Conclusion These findings underscore the issue of weight stigma and show that experiencing this from trusted close others is associated with poor health outcomes like chronic pain. Advocacy efforts to mitigate weight stigma in pregnancy and strengthen close relationships to improve maternal health and wellbeing is warranted.

Weight stigma involves prejudiced attitudes directed towards larger-bodied people. Preconception, pregnant, and postpartum (PPP) women are particularly vulnerable to weight stigma due to societal expectations and prescriptive norms around women's bodies, along with body weight changes during these periods. However, there is limited understanding of the prevailing societal discourse and constructions driving this phenomenon. Therefore, we aimed to explore community members' perspectives to identify constructions of weight stigma towards PPP women living in larger bodies. We conducted a qualitative story completion study. Adult community members residing in Australia were invited to complete three story stems. Each story stem featured a larger-bodied preconception, pregnant, or postpartum protagonist and their interaction with their friends, colleagues, or family. The participants were instructed to complete the story by writing the story about what they think, believe, and do, focusing on the treatment experienced by larger-bodied women. The data were analysed using inductive reflexive thematic analysis, informed by social constructionism. Eighteen participants took part and completed 48 stories (mean word count = 272 words, range 94−708). Three overarching constructions were identified: (1) prevailing assumptions about weight stigma in PPP periods; (2) disguising fatphobia pertaining to PPP women as concern for the mother's and child's health; and (3) healthism pertaining to PPP women living in larger bodies. Our study highlights predominant norms and assumptions that drive weight stigma toward PPP women. These insights can inform future research, policy, and health promotion initiatives to identify targeted strategies to address these constructions. Ultimately, such efforts may contribute to creating a society that embraces body diversity and challenges weight stigma, positively impacting the health of PPP women and their children.

Background Recent research has shown that pregnant individuals experience weight stigma throughout gestation, including negative comments and judgement associated with gestational weight gain (GWG). Weight bias internalization (WBI) is often a result of exposure to weight stigma and is detrimental to biopsychological health outcomes. The purpose of this study was to explore WBI in pregnancy and compare scores based on maternal weight-related factors including pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI), obesity diagnosis and excessive GWG. Methods Pregnant individuals in Canada and USA completed a modified version of the Adult Weight Bias Internalization Scale. Self-reported pre-pregnancy height and weight were collected to calculate and classify pre-pregnancy BMI. Current weight was also reported to calculate GWG, which was then classified as excessive or not based on Institute of Medicine (2009) guidelines. Participants indicated if they were diagnosed with obesity by a healthcare provider. Inferential analyses were performed comparing WBI scores according to pre-pregnancy BMI, excessive GWG, and obesity diagnosis. Significance was accepted as p  < 0.05 and effect sizes accompanied all analyses. Result 336 pregnant individuals completed the survey, with an average WBI score of 3.9 ± 1.2. WBI was higher among those who had a pre-pregnancy BMI of obese than normal weight ( p  = 0.04, η 2  = 0.03), diagnosed with obesity than not diagnosed ( p  < 0.001, Cohen’s d = 1.3), and gained excessively versus not ( p  < 0.001, Cohen’s d = 1.2). Conclusions Pregnant individuals who have a higher BMI, obesity and gain excessively may experience WBI. Given that weight stigma frequently occurs in pregnancy, effective person-oriented strategies are needed to mitigate stigma and prevent and care for WBI.

News media is powerful at framing health, shaping public perceptions and demand for policy. The effects of news media include perpetuating obesity discrimination, which threatens public health. Two-thirds of pregnant women report experiencing bodyweight-related stigma. The aim of this review was to explore the portrayal of maternal obesity in UK newspaper outlets. NexisUni was searched for newspaper articles published between Jan 1, 2010, and May 31, 2021, reporting content on obesity during pregnancy. Articles were screened against inclusion criteria. Integrated quantitative and qualitative analytics supported a novel framework synthesis to characterise the content of the articles. 442 articles were included: 261 (59%) published in tabloids and 181 (41%) in broadsheets. We identified three overarching themes: blame; responsibility; and burden of women with obesity. Subthemes were health outcomes (primarily of the infants); impact on the UK National Health Service (NHS); causes of and solutions for obesity; and calls for action. Women were blamed for their bodyweight, pregnancy risks, and NHS care requirements. Solutions were framed as the woman's responsibility to reduce her own and future generations' bodyweight, prevent adverse pregnancy outcomes, and alleviate the burden on the NHS. The burden of maternal obesity was consistently placed on women, as a burden on individuals (ie, themselves, their children, and health professionals), society, and the NHS. Patterns in language framed the so-called problem and scale of maternal obesity, emphasised risk and danger, and were alarmist, aggressive, and violent. Articles platformed purported experts' voices, such as professional organisations representatives, rather than women's lived experiences. The article narratives were underpinned by oversimplifications of obesity development, weight management, and causal pathways to health outcomes. UK newspapers negatively frame and oversimplify maternal obesity. Exposure to blaming and alarmist messaging could increase women's guilt and internalised weight bias, which can harm maternal and child physical and mental health during this life phase. The newspaper media should instead be harnessed to destigmatise maternal obesity, promote maternal wellbeing, and improve public health. The interdisciplinary, multinational research team and novel, rigorous methods are strengths of this review. A limitation is the focus on article texts but not on accompanying images. None.

BackgroundExperiencing 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.MethodWomen 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.ResultsOf 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.ConclusionsClose 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.

Weight stigma is a social justice issue that can lead to weight-based discrimination and mistreatment. In pregnancy, emerging evidence has highlighted that weight stigma predominantly affects individuals who have larger bodies and is associated with postpartum depression and avoidance of healthcare. Racial and ethnic background will influence perceptions of, and responses to, weight stigma and therefore it is necessary to ensure diverse voices are represented in our understanding of weight stigma. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with ten women who were within one year postpartum; nine identified as Black or African American and one as Hawaiian. Thematic analysis led to identification of three themes: (1) sources of weight stigma and their response to it, (2) support systems to overcome weight stigma, and (3) intersectional experiences. Women reported that sources of weight stigma included unsolicited comments made about their weight often coming from strangers or healthcare professionals that resulted in emotional distress. Support systems identified were family members and partners who encouraged them to not focus on negative remarks made about weight. Intersectional accounts included comparing their bodies to White women, suggesting that they may carry their weight differently. Women shared that, although they felt immense pressure to lose weight quickly postpartum, motherhood and childcare was their utmost priority. These findings inform further prospective examination of the implications of weight stigma in pregnancy among diverse populations, as well as inform inclusive public health strategies to mitigate weight stigma.

In this commentary, we discuss how the practice of measuring gestational weight gain may perpetuate weight stigma and resultant discrimination if not thoughtfully assessed. We offer suggestions to reduce the likelihood of weight stigma and discrimination in perinatal care settings.

Most of the literature on the causes of tropical deforestation has focused on the proximate and distal causes. However, research exploring the psychological drivers of deforestation, i.e., motivations, is still scant despite being crucial to understand the processes of land-use change and individual decision making within social-ecological systems. We studied the combined effect of structural and individual causes of deforestation, with particular emphasis on motivations, for a sample of rural households in Colombia’s foremost tropical deforestation frontier. We implemented a new instrument based on self-determination theory to measure five different types of motivations to protect the forests: intrinsic, guilt/regret, social, extrinsic motivations, and amotivation (lack of motivation). Our findings show that, controlling for the structural and household drivers widely identified in the deforestation literature, intrinsic motivations positively correlate with less self-reported deforestation. Also, amotivated people and those with extrinsic motives, such as expected payments for conservation, are more likely to deforest. Our results show that motivations can explain variation in land-use decisions and thus should be considered when designing, implementing, and evaluating conservation policies aiming to halt deforestation.