Parental weight stigma is just beginning to receive serious scientific attention but could have major effects on parents, children and families.
roman023/iStock via Getty Images PlusIf people blame and stigmatize parents of children with higher weights, what effects does it have on parents, on their children and on the parent-child interactions that are so important for healthy development?
We do not yet know, for example, if heavier children are aware people stigmatize their parents. If so, these children might not only be ashamed of their size, but also might erroneously feel responsible for how people treat their parents.three experiments with over 1,000 U.S. participantsWe randomly assigned participants to view one of four line drawings depicting a mother or father next to an 8-year-old daughter or son. We also included a short description of the parent and child.
In two of the line drawings and descriptions, the child was described and depicted as “healthy”-weight. In the other two, the child was depicted and described as having “obesity.” The parents were always depicted and described as being healthy-weight. This allowed us to conclude that study participants’ reactions to parents were due to their children’s weights, not the parents’.
We asked participants a few short questions about how good or bad a parent they thought the adult was. Participants also answered questions about what they believed influenced the child’s weight . Participants were given 100 “responsibility points” to allot to four factors that could be behind the child’s weight: parent behavior, child behavior, genetic factors and societal factors.
As expected, people who viewed the child with obesity assigned more responsibility points to parent behavior and saw that parent as a worse parent. We found parent and child gender made little difference,
Malaysia Latest News, Malaysia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Black History Month Begins With Reflections on Black AmericaFebruary is Black History Month, and outlets are publishing reflections on black history and commentaries on the current state of civil rights efforts. See perspectives and analysis across the spectrum from CNNOpinion, nypost, and axios:
Read more »
4 Ways to Help Your Adult Child Who Lacks AmbitionHow to motivate your adult child to do what's best for them—even if it's not what you expected, by DrJeff4Help
Read more »
America has come a long way from an early electric car casualtyAmerica has come a long way from an early electric car casualty. Biden mining
Read more »
Opinion: All the signs support continued use of nuclear energyTo build enough wind and solar to power the current infrastructure with electricity would take tens of thousands of square miles of land.
Read more »
Opinion: Mercedes-AMG E63 can lose V8 but keep drama factor | AutocarCan the Mercedes-AMG E63 afford to lose its V8? Our road test editor TheDarkStormy1 thinks so, but it has a lot to live up to
Read more »
Opinion: This One Weird Trick That Lets You Buy a HouseAs a millennial (well, xennial) I thought I would never be able to buy a house. This past week, we finally had an offer accepted on a dream home, and it was all thanks to one neat trick that you’ll never pick up from the rich commentators on the subject...
Read more »