Obesity — Its Possible Effect on College Acceptance

Canning, Helen; Mayer, Jean

doi:10.1056/nejm196611242752107

Cited by 244 publications

(111 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…In addition, an effort was made to include questions concerning equal and civil rights, as these issues are an important aspect of discrimination against minority groups. However, despite evidence of prejudice in employment and education practices affecting the equal rights and opportunities of obese individuals, [28][29][30][31][32] equal rights have been neglected in previous measures of weight bias. After the development of scale items, an initial 48-item measure was administered to participants.…”

Section: Participantsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Weighing obesity stigma: the relative strength of different forms of bias

et al. 2008

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Objective: To compare the strength of weight bias to other common biases, and to develop a psychometrically sound measure to assess and compare bias against different targets. Subjects: A total of 368 university students (75.4% women, 47.6% white, mean age: 21.53 years, mean body mass index (BMI): 23.01 kg/m 2 ). Measurements: A measure was developed to assess bias against different targets. Three versions of the universal measure of bias (UMB) were developed and validated, each focusing on either 'fat,' 'gay' or 'Muslim' individuals. These were administered to participants, along with two established scales of bias against each target and a measure of socially desirable response style. Results: The UMB demonstrated good internal consistency, appropriate item-total and inter-item correlations, and a clear factor structure suggesting components of Negative Judgment, Distance, Attraction and Equal Rights. Construct validity was indicated by strong correlations between established measures of bias and each corresponding version of the new scale. In contrast to previously established measures of weight bias, the new measure was independent of socially desirable response style. Although homosexual orientation was associated with lower gay bias (Po0.05), greater BMI was not associated with any decrease in weight bias. When comparing the relative strength of bias against different targets, weight bias was significantly greater than bias against both gays and Muslims (Po0.001). Conclusion: Weight bias is significantly stronger than other major targets of bias. This is the first study to develop a universal measure to assess bias against different targets. The excellent psychometric properties of this measure will permit further investigation into the relative severity of different types of prejudice over time and across samples. The present findings suggest that the pervasive discrimination against obese individuals may be more socially acceptable than discrimination against other groups.

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Section: Participantsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Weighing obesity stigma: the relative strength of different forms of bias

et al. 2008

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“…Obese people report job discrimination, social exclusion, exploitation by the diet and ®tness industry, denial of health bene®ts, trouble ®nding clothing, mistreatment by doctors, and public ridicule. 1 ± 3 Additionally, obese people are less likely to be admitted to college 4 or to have their education funded. 5 Obese people are more likely to be of lower socioeconomic status 6 and to decrease in socioeconomic status over time.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Obesity stigmatization and coping: Relation to mental health symptoms, body image, and self-esteem

1999

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OBJECTIVE: To create inventories of stigmatizing situations faced by obese people and ways of coping with stigmatization, and to examine how stigma and coping are related to psychological distress in an obese patient population. DESIGN: Study 1: Items were generated by asking obese people to list stigmatizing situations they had encountered and their ways of coping. Study 2: Obese patients were surveyed about the frequency with which they encountered each form of stigmatization and employed each form of coping. Cross-sectional data on current psychological adjustment were obtained. SUBJECTS: Study 1: 63 obese patients (body mass index, BMI b 40 kgam 2 ); 38 obese non-patients, seven professionals who work with obese patients and 32 obese female authors from the print media. Study 2: 112 gastric bypass patients (BMI 33.9 ± 80.9 kgam 2 ) and 34 less obese patients (BMI 27.1 ± 57.2 kgam 2 ). MEASUREMENT: Study 1: Collection of stigmatizing situations and coping responses. Study 2: Frequency of stigmatizing experiences and coping responses, psychological symptoms, body image, and self esteem measures. RESULTS: Study 1 resulted in two objective questionnaires, consisting of 50 situations and 99 responses. Study 2 found that stigmatization is a common experience, and that obese subjects frequently engage in some effort to cope with stigma. More frequent exposure to stigmatization was associated with greater psychological distress, more attempts to cope, and more severe obesity. Certain coping strategies are associated with greater distress.Keywords: obesity stigma; coping; gastric bypass IntroductionIndividuals who share the stigma of obesity quickly ®nd that stigmatization affects nearly every aspect of their lives. Obese people report job discrimination, social exclusion, exploitation by the diet and ®tness industry, denial of health bene®ts, trouble ®nding clothing, mistreatment by doctors, and public ridicule. 1 ± 3 Additionally, obese people are less likely to be admitted to college 4 or to have their education funded. 5 Obese people are more likely to be of lower socioeconomic status 6 and to decrease in socioeconomic status over time. 7 Unlike racial prejudice, society freely expresses prejudicial attitudes towards obese people, justifying these attitudes on the grounds that weight is controllable. 5 Thus, obese people may be more likely than other minority groups to encounter overt hostility and discrimination. Negative stereotypes of obese people include the views that they are ugly, morally and emotionally impaired, asexual, discontented, weakwilled and unlikable. 5 Ironically, obese people are just as likely as non-obese people to hold these prejudiced attitudes. 5 Some recent studies have attempted to quantify different types of stigmatizing experiences faced by obese people. For example, a survey of 445 members of the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance (NAAFA) found that 98% reported verbal harassment, criticism, or teasing from family and friends. 3 On the job, 75% reported criticism or teasi...

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“…In one study in the US, obese adolescents had poor high school performance, 4 possibly affecting their acceptance into colleges. 5 They also had fewer years of schooling than did their non-obese peers. 6 Later in adulthood, women who had been overweight during adolescence had lower incomes when compared with their non-obese counterparts, independent of their baseline social status and aptitude-test scores.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

School performance and weight status of children and young adolescents in a transitional society in Thailand

et al. 1999

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OBJECTIVE: To study the association between current or previous weight status and school performance among children and young adolescents of Hat Yai municipality, southern Thailand. DESIGN: Cross-sectional and longitudinal study SETTING: Primary and secondary schools of Hat Yai municipality, southern Thailand. SUBJECTS: 1207 grades 3 ± 6 and 587 grades 7 ± 9 students. MEASUREMENTS: Body mass index (BMI, kgam 2 ) calculated from weight and height measurement of subjects in 1992 and 1994; parental education level and occupation, and monthly income, by questionnaire performed in 1992; gradepoint-average (GPA) and grades of mathematics and Thai language from the school records of ®nal examinations in 1994. RESULTS: Overweight subjects (BMI value b 85th percentile of the NHANES-I data for age and gender) in grades 7 ± 9 had a mean GPA 0.20 point (95% con®dence internal (CI) 0.04, 0.37) lower than that of the normal weight children after controlling for gender, age, school and grade. They were twice more likely to have low grades (lower than 2 on the scales of 0 ± 4) of mathematics and Thai language than normal weight children. There were no associations between GPA or individual subject grades and previous BMI status in 1992. Children in grades 7 ± 9 who became overweight over the two years, had a mean GPA of 0.48 point lower than those who did not become overweight (95% CI 0.12, 0.84). In grades 3 ± 6 subjects, however, becoming overweight had no effect on GPA and individual subject scores. CONCLUSIONS: Our study showed that being overweight and becoming overweight during adolescence (grades 7 ± 9) was associated with poor school performance, whereas such an association did not exist in children (grades 3 ± 6).

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Obesity — Its Possible Effect on College Acceptance

Cited by 244 publications

References 8 publications

Weighing obesity stigma: the relative strength of different forms of bias

Weighing obesity stigma: the relative strength of different forms of bias

Obesity stigmatization and coping: Relation to mental health symptoms, body image, and self-esteem

School performance and weight status of children and young adolescents in a transitional society in Thailand

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