Children's acceptance of a peer who is overweight: relations among gender, age and blame for weight status

Abstract

Objective: To examine the role of blame as a mediator of the relationships between perceiver age and gender and children's acceptance of an overweight peer. Design: Cross-sectional study of children's perceptions of their overweight peers using structural equation modeling. Participants: Two hundred and ninety-one children between the ages of 3 and 11 years. Measurements: Children viewed a videotape of a same-sex peer, dressed to appear overweight, interacting with an adult. After viewing the videotape, children responded to items assessing their perceptions of the child's social and emotional traits and how much the child was to blame for being overweight.Results: Confirmatory factor analysis indicated that the traits loaded on a single factor, acceptance. Results of analyses for our structural equation model indicated that as blame increased, acceptance of the peer decreased. The relationships between gender and blame and gender and acceptance were not significant. Children were categorized into three age groups (3-4, 5-8 and 9-11 years) to examine the influence of age. Children between 5 and 8 years of age were less likely to blame the model compared with younger and older children. Conclusion: Preschoolers reported the lowest acceptance, indicating a need for intervention for children in this age range. Furthermore, it will be important to conduct longitudinal studies to determine the influence of interventions as the child passes through different developmental stages.

Factors Influencing Children’s Attitudes Toward a Peer Who Is Overweight

“…Children who are overweight are often seen as being responsible for their weight (Rukavina, & Li, 2011). Consistent with the attribution theory (Weiner, 1986) children who are perceived as being responsible for their weight are viewed more negatively than children who are not seen as responsible (Iobst et al, 2009;Puhl et al, 2005;Sigelman & Begley, 1987;Teachman et al, 2003).…”

“…Attribution Theory (Weiner, 1986), which posits that individuals make judgments according to perceived responsibility (internal, i.e., more within the individual's control, versus external, less within his or her control) for a condition has guided research investigating perceptions of overweight children. For example, studies have examined whether children perceive obesity as being primarily caused by external factors like genetics or biology versus internal factors like laziness or diet (Iobst et al, 2009;Puhl, Schwartz, & Brownell, 2005;Sigelman & Begley, 1987;Teachman, Gapinski, Brownell, Rawlins, & Jyaram, 2003). The current study contributed to this literature by using structural equation modeling to examine the complex relationships between responsibility, perceiver characteristics, and attitude toward an overweight child.…”

“…Overall, literature associated with perceived responsibility overwhelmingly suggests that individuals who are held responsible for their condition are viewed more negatively than those individuals who are not held responsible for their weight condition (Iobst et al, 2009;Puhl & Brownell, 2003;Puhl et al, 2005;Sigelman & Begley, 1987;Teachman et al, 2003). Thus, it is important to continue to include perceived responsibility as one of the factors that likely impacts children's attitudes toward other children who are overweight.…”

Weight Control Beliefs, Body Shape Attitudes, and Physical Activity Among Adolescents

“…Perceived weight controllability influences children's and adolescents' attitudes toward overweight peers 14–16 . Youth who perceive that a person's weight is within his or her control are likely to assign negative personal and social attributes to and have negative perceptions of overweight peers.…”

“…Perceived weight controllability influences children's and adolescents' attitudes toward overweight peers. [14][15][16] Youth who perceive that a person's weight is within his or her control are likely to assign negative personal and social attributes to and have negative perceptions of overweight peers. To build upon this previous research, [14][15][16] we investigated the associations between adolescents' weight controllability beliefs and their perceptions of personal and social characteristics and physical health, as well as fitness characteristics of peers of varying body shapes.…”