Newspaper media framing of obesity during pregnancy in the UK: A review and framework synthesis

Abstract

Two thirds of women report experiencing weight stigma during pregnancy.Newspaper media is powerful in framing health issues. This review synthesized UK newspaper media portrayal of maternal obesity. NexisUni was searched to identify newspaper articles, published January 2010 to May 2021, reporting content on obesity during pregnancy. Framework synthesis integrated quantitative and qualitative analysis of the content of articles. There were 442 articles included (59% tabloids and 41% broadsheets). Three overarching themes with interacting sub-themes were as follows: (1) Women were blamed for their weight, risks, and NHS impact. (2) Women were solely responsible for solving obesity, gendered from school age. (3) Women with obesity were a burden on individuals (e.g., themselves, their children, and health professionals), to society, and the NHS. Catastrophizing language framed the "problem," "scale," and "public health concern" of maternal obesity, emphasizing risk, and danger and was alarmist, aggressive, and violent as to elicit fear or devalue women. Articles platformed 'expert' voices rather than women's lived experiences. This review identified that UK newspaper media negatively frames and oversimplifies the topic of maternal obesity. Exposure to blaming and alarmist messaging could increase women's guilt, stigma, and internalized weight bias. The newspaper media should be harnessed to de-stigmatize maternal obesity and promote maternal well-being.

Changing the global obesity narrative to recognize and reduce weight stigma: A position statement from the World Obesity Federation

“…The way higher body weights have been portrayed within research, healthcare, policy, the media, and society at large has contributed to weight stigma 18 . People with higher body weights are often stereotyped as lazy, gluttonous, unintelligent, unattractive, and non‐compliant, 1 including stereotypical portrayals in news, 24,25 advertising, 26 social, 27,28 and entertainment media 29 . These stereotypes are also fueled by dominant cultural narratives related to weight, weight loss, “healthy weight,” and personal responsibility for weight, also referred to as “healthy weight discourse” 23 or “diet culture.” 21 Weight stigma has a significant negative impact on the quality and quantity of healthcare, 30 experiences in educational settings, 31 and opportunities in the workplace 32,33 and can adversely affect interpersonal relationships 34,35 .…”

Drivers and facilitators of weight stigma among preconception, pregnant, and postpartum women: A systematic review

“…2,5,6,[59][60][61] One study was a survey with a qualitative data collection method, 62 and one was a framework synthesis of newsprint media. 31 The majority of the studies (n = 24) included either preconception, pregnant, or postpartum women as study participants, 2,5,6,33,34,36,38,39,41,42,[44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51][54][55][56][57]62,63 investigating perspectives of weight stigma either cross-sectionally or retrospectively. Six studies included health professionals, 37,40,52,58,59,61 and three studies included both preconception, pregnant, or postpartum women and health professionals.…”

“…Six studies included health professionals, 37,40,52,58,59,61 and three studies included both preconception, pregnant, or postpartum women and health professionals. 35,53,60 Two studies reviewed news articles for weight stigma focused on pregnant or postpartum women living with obesity 6,31 (Table S8).…”

“…Five studies reported on drivers and facilitators of weight stigma in media settings specific to pregnancy. 2,6,31,41,51 The common drivers included a lack of visual representation of women living with overweight or obesity and the depiction of slimness as a sign of health and beauty. 2,6,41,51 Furthermore, Nippert and colleagues (2021) examined the contents of 33 news articles, and among those that had images (n = 24), the majority (n = 19, 79.2%) portrayed thin or averageweight women, and five (15.2%) articles contained weightstigmatizing information.…”

From Print to Digital Newspaper: Analysis of Consumers' Motivation to Buy Newspapers

“…For developing countries, print newspapers are efficient [7]. Health information if distributed through newspapers will be more effective [8] Traditional media needs to create a platform for digital businesses; convergence is necessary, i.e., distributing news through print and digital versions, with the internet as the driving force [9]. This study tries to assess whether the content in traditional (printed) newspapers, i.e., general information, scientific information, entertainment information, job vacancies information, and advertising information, will continue to influence the motivation of readers to buy newspapers in physical form.…”