12. Fat Kids, Working Moms, and the “Epidemic of Obesity”

Boero, Natalie C.

doi:10.18574/nyu/9780814777435.003.0017

Cited by 10 publications

(8 citation statements)

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“…Contrary to our predictions, fathers were more likely than mothers to engage in parental weight talk when self-stigma (affiliate stigma and WBI) was high, while rates of weight talk were similar between mothers and fathers when self-stigma was low. This finding is surprising given that mothers are more often held responsible for their child's weight status than fathers,38–40 and that women commonly exhibit higher levels of WBI than men 17. It may be that fathers and mothers differ in their beliefs about the controllability of their own and their child's weight, such that fathers who perceive greater power over and responsibility for their child's weight may also feel compelled to engage in weight talk.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

An Examination of Parental Weight Stigma and Weight Talk Among Socioeconomically and Racially/Ethnically Diverse Parents

Pudney,

Puhl,

Halgunseth

et al. 2023

Family &Amp; Community Health

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Parental communication about body weight can influence children's emotional well-being and eating behaviors. However, little is known about the role of parental self-stigma concerning weight and social position variables (ie, race/ethnicity, income, and gender) in weight communication. This study examined how parents' self-stigmatization for their own weight (ie, weight bias internalization) and self-stigmatization for their child's weight (ie, affiliate stigma) relates to weight talk frequency with their children, and whether these associations vary across parental race/ethnicity, income, and gender. Parents (n = 408) completed a cross-sectional, online survey about their weight communication and self-stigmatization. Linear regression was used to examine the relationships among these variables, including interactions between the stigma variables and social position variables in predicting weight talk. Higher levels of weight bias internalization and affiliate stigma were strongly associated with increased parental weight talk frequency; parents who endorsed higher levels of internalized bias about their own weight expressed greater affiliate stigma for their child's weight, regardless of demographic characteristics or weight status. Associations between the stigma variables and weight talk outcomes were stronger among fathers and parents of higher income. Findings highlight the importance of considering weight stigma variables in parental weight communication research.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

An Examination of Parental Weight Stigma and Weight Talk Among Socioeconomically and Racially/Ethnically Diverse Parents

Pudney,

Puhl,

Halgunseth

et al. 2023

Family &Amp; Community Health

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The specific notion of "mother blame" emerged in the conversation with women displaying a variety of standpoints and experiences on the subject. The "bad mother" trope refers to the tendency to blame mothers for the failures of their children; a deeply ingrained patriarchal notion, where working women and Black women in particular, are blamed for transmitting lax morals, modeling subversive behavior, and thereby perpetuating poverty and delinquency (Ladd-Taylor and Umansky, 1998;Boero, 2010). In focus groups discussions, the "bad mother" trope showed up as part of the mental burden that women bear.…”

Section: Welfare Stigma and Racism: "It's All About Survival"mentioning

confidence: 99%

“Motherwork” and communicative labor: A gendered analysis of hunger in marginalized US women

Souza

2023

Front. Commun.

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IntroductionThe feminization of hunger plays out in communities across the globe where poverty exists, including the United States, the world's wealthiest nation. The feminization of hunger and poverty can be traced to the “gender system”—deep seated gender inequities resulting in job segregation, discrimination in pay, unpaid caring work, and gender-based violence.MethodsExploratory qualitative research study with two focus groups comprising low-income women (n = 20).ResultsThe analysis identified three key themes: toxic stress related to food work, welfare stigma and racism, and the invisible loads of care work and communicative labor.DiscussionThe analysis shows how women's experience of hunger and food insecurity in the US is linked to forces of economic deprivation and symbolic violence. Consistent with Allen's (2007) theorization of “motherwork”, for women and mothers the experience of food insecurity is distinct because of its gendered link to the care work, food work, and communicative labor necessary for the survival and wellbeing of children.

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“…Just as intersecting gendered, classed, and racial inequalities shape families' food‐related practices and meanings, so too do they inform societal judgments of these practices. Failing to adhere to idealized feeding standards is associated with a stigmatized maternal identity characterized by poor knowledge, low self‐control, and fatness (Boero, 2009; Wright et al., 2015). Paradoxically, adhering too closely to these standards also risks stigmatization as overbearing, obsessive and controlling (MacKendrick & Pristavec, 2019).…”

Section: Food Meanings In the Context Of Gendered Classed And Raciali...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Importantly, the ascent of the obesity epidemic—where bodies have come to serve as visible evidence of health, morality, responsibility, and self‐control—has further entrenched classist and racist stereotypes. Because obesity rates are higher among low‐income people and certain people of color (Flegal et al., 2016) and because public discussions around obesity largely center on individual choice and responsibility, children's bodies come to serve as visible metrics of their mothers' ability to feed and care for them (Boero, 2009; Wright et al., 2015). Socioeconomic and racial/ethnic differences in obesity thereby further fuel stereotypes of low‐income mothers and mothers of color as negligent and lacking in self‐control.…”

Section: Food Meanings In the Context Of Gendered Classed And Raciali...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Unequal foodwork: Situating the sociology of feeding within diet and nutrition disparities

Fielding‐Singh

Oleschuk

2023

Sociology Compass

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Widespread inequities in diet and nutrition present a pressing public health problem. Sociologists working to illuminate the causes and contours of these inequities often center the role of family foodwork, or the multifaceted domestic labor that supports eating, including planning and preparing meals. Mounting sociological scholarship on foodwork considers how food's meanings are socially patterned to reflect broader social structures, ideologies and institutions that influence their manifestation and families' resources to enact them. Here, we present three core contributions from the sociology of foodwork that can advance essential transdisciplinary conversations around nutrition disparities as well as efforts to tackle these disparities. We lay out how (1) family foodwork is historically rooted in broader structures of capitalist exploitation and women's subordination, and today remains gendered through normative discourses equating “good” feeding with “good” mothering; (2) the moralization of foodwork is buttressed by an ideological context idealizing homecooked meals and lamenting foodwork's decline, and; (3) foodwork—and societal evaluations of it—are shaped and stratified by intersecting gendered, classed, and racial inequalities. After reviewing each contribution and its importance for addressing nutrition inequities, we conclude by advocating for a closer conversation across disciplines and highlighting important future directions for sociologists.

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12. Fat Kids, Working Moms, and the “Epidemic of Obesity”

Cited by 10 publications

References 0 publications

An Examination of Parental Weight Stigma and Weight Talk Among Socioeconomically and Racially/Ethnically Diverse Parents

An Examination of Parental Weight Stigma and Weight Talk Among Socioeconomically and Racially/Ethnically Diverse Parents

“Motherwork” and communicative labor: A gendered analysis of hunger in marginalized US women

Unequal foodwork: Situating the sociology of feeding within diet and nutrition disparities

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