Weight bias and support of public health policies

Abstract

Weight Bias and Support of Public Health Policies Iyoma Yvonne Edache Background. Public explicit weight bias attitudes have yet to be assessed in a Canadian representative sample. It is unknown if explicit weight bias negatively influences Canadian public perceptions of public health policies aimed at addressing obesity. Objectives. To examine: (1) explicit weight bias, (2) public support of the Canadian Federal Government's public health policy recommendations to address obesity, and (3) the association between explicit weight bias and policy support in Canada. Methods. Canadian adults (N=1003; 51% female; BMI=27.37.0 kg/m 2 ) completed an online survey in October 2018. Weight bias was measured with the Anti-Fat Attitudes Questionnaire in three subscales: Willpower, Fear of fat, and Dislike. Support of policy recommendations was measured on 4-point Likert scales. Logistic regressions (support vs oppose) were conducted after adjusting for age, race, gender and income. Results. Support of policy recommendations ranged from 53% to 90%. Willpower was associated with support of 10 policies (e.g. changing infrastructure to encourage physical activity, OR=1.28, CI=1.14-1.43, P<0.01). Dislike was associated with support of three policies (e.g. taxation of sugar and artificially sweetened beverages, OR=1.19, CI=1.08-1.31, P<0.01). However, Fear of fat was negatively associated with support of two policies (e.g. mandating the use of front-of-package nutrition labelling, OR=0.82, CI=0.73-0.94, P<0.01) Conclusions. Weight bias is associated with Canadian support of public health policies aimed at addressing obesity. Future studies should examine the influence of weight bias reduction interventions on policy support.

Nurses' and Nursing Students' Perceptions Toward People Living with Obesity: A Scoping Review Protocol

“…Obesity, defined by the World Health Organization as a body mass index above 30 kg/m 2 , is recognized as a global epidemic and a significant public health concern that requires urgent attention (Janssen, 2013;Powell-Wiley et al, 2021). In Canada, public health campaigns aim to address and reverse this condition through the promotion of healthy lifestyle behaviours (Edache et al, 2021;Le Bodo et al, 2017). However, these strategies often reinforce the prevailing narrative that weight is solely an individual's responsibility, attributing obesity to a lack of self-discipline in matters of nutrition and exercise habits (Fruh et al, 2021;Rubino et al, 2020).…”