Research on “overweight” and “obese” populations is extensive, but little of this research specifically addresses the “obese” or “overweight” amateur endurance athlete. Amateur endurance athletes often have bodies that defy the stereotype of the typical marathoner, swimmer, or triathlete. As a result, these athletes can experience stigma, both within their sporting communities as well as in the workplace, at home, and from spectators at athletic events. In an effort to discover what brings “overweight” adults to endurance sports and to recognize the barriers that they encounter to stay active in sports, this study seeks to identify the types of stigma that “overweight” endurance athletes face, the effects stigma has on their physical and mental health, and the effects stigma has on their participation in sports. Six amateur endurance athletes who identify as “overweight” were interviewed, and data were coded using Owen’s interpretive themes framework. Participants were found to experience stigma in being members of the “back of the pack,” in their entry into endurance sports, and in the lack of competition-quality clothing available for larger body types. Participants experienced negative physical and mental health outcomes as they internalized the stigma messages received during training and racing. No negative effects on participation were observed.

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We performed an online study of 320 U.S. mothers to determine how this group, generally regarded as the "Chief Medical Officers" of their families, find physicians for their families. We also aimed to uncover mothers' information preferences with the goal of helping health care systems improve the content they offer. Mothers responded how they chose their last family medicine physician, and the level of importance they placed on various types of provider information when making that decision. Mothers rated providers' communication style as the most important characteristic. Interpersonal referrals were the most commonly cited source of information. Mothers also rated being able to extract personality characteristics and feelings of relatability from a provider's online biography as important in selecting a provider.

With funding for public health initiatives declining, creating measurable objectives that are focused on tracking and changing population outcomes (i.e., knowledge, attitudes, or behaviors), instead of those that are focused on health agencies' own outputs (e.g., promoting services, developing communication messages) have seen a renewed focus. This study analyzed 4094 objectives from the Community Health Improvement Plans (CHIPs) of 280 local PHAB-accredited and non-accredited public health agencies across the United States. Results revealed that accredited agencies were no more successful at creating outcomes-focused objectives (35% of those coded) compared to non-accredited agencies (33% of those coded; Z = 1.35, p = .18). The majority of objectives were focused on outputs (accredited: 61.2%; non-accredited: 63.3%; Z = 0.72, p = .47). Outcomes-focused objectives primarily sought to change behaviors (accredited: 85.43%; non-accredited: 80.6%), followed by changes in knowledge (accredited: 9.75%; non-accredited: 10.8%) and attitudes (accredited: 1.6%; non-accredited: 5.1%). Non-accredited agencies had more double-barreled objectives (49.9%) compared to accredited agencies (32%; Z = 11.43, p < .001). The authors recommend that accreditation procedures place a renewed focus on ensuring that public health agencies strive to achieve outcomes. It is also advocated that public health agencies work with interdisciplinary teams of Health Communicators who can help them develop procedures to effectively and efficiently measure outcomes of knowledge and attitudes that are influential drivers of behavioral changes.

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