Preschool children’s perceptions of overweight peers

Abstract

The aim of the study was to determine if preschool children perceive overweight children to have more negative characteristics than non-overweight children. Children from 32 to 70 months old (N = 42) listened to four stories about an interaction between two children, in which one child demonstrated socially unacceptable behaviour and one child demonstrated pro-social behaviour. Stories were presented along with two target figures (overweight, non-overweight). Results showed that children perceived overweight target figures as 'mean' more often than 'nice'. By understanding children's negative perceptions towards overweight peers, the findings can inform the development of programs to prevent or decrease body stigmatization in order to create inclusive learning and social environments where all children are accepted, included, and gain a sense of belonging regardless of their body shape or size.

“No fat friend of mine”: Young children's responses to overweight and disability

“…This could be in school time or at home, and involve the child directly or in observing this happening to others. In accord with this, interviews reveal that young children are fearful of overweight children because they treat others badly and hit them (Birbeck & Drummond, 2006;Su & Aurelia, 2011). The present assessment of fat 'Alfie' being naughty at school is consistent this depiction.…”

“…Others have varied characterizations and crafted stories where the characters are mean (Cramer & Steinwert, 1998;Su & Aurelia, 2011;Tillman, Kehle, Bray, Chafouleas, & Grigerick, 2007). Finding that children are more likely to associate a drawing of a fat child with the mean character still begs the question of why, and whether this would generalise to other visibly different representations of a person.…”

“…Whether research such as this justifies the development of interventions specifically to address the stigma of obesity in young children (Su & Aurelia, 2011) is open to debate.…”

“…Consequently, researchers have developed alternative approaches such as rating thin and fat body shapes on semantic differential scales (Brylinski & Moore, 1994;Musher-Eizenman, Holub, Barnhart Miller, Goldstein, & Edwards-Leeper, 2004), matching these body shapes to the character (mean or nice) of a child in a story (Cramer & Steinwert, 1998), and even asking children why they made these choices (Su & Aurelia, 2011). However, there have been few attempts to compare methodologies, particularly in their potential to favour negativity (Jarvie et al, 1983).…”

Felt stigma and obesity: Introducing the generalized other

“…First, much of that literature is based on adults (often women); we investigated young people's experiences. Second, most research about children and adolescents has explored how they judge and exclude others based on weight (DeJong, 1980;James, 2000;MacNevin, 2004;Puhl and Latner, 2007;Su and Di Santo, 2012). Few studies have examined individual experiences that young people have had with weight discrimination (Eriksen and Manke, 2011;Li and Rukavina, 2009;Wills et al, 2006).…”