Plus-sized people typically face a pervasive and resilient form of social stigma, often facing discrimination in the workplace as well as in educational and healthcare settings.
Weight stigma is particularly prevalent at different stages of pregnancy – from preconception to pregnancy to postpartum periods (PPP) – due to societal norms and expectations around weight and weight gain during pregnancy. reproduction. This form of sizeism is dangerous, because this discrimination of pregnant women and new mothers can lead to negative consequences on the physical and psychological health of the mother and potentially of her child.
Now, researchers at Monash University have developed a model called SWIPE (Stigma of Weight In the PPP Experience) which provides a blueprint for eliminating weight stigma among PPP women.
The study, led by Dr Briony Hill and PhD student Ms Haimanot Hailu, from the Monash School of Public Health and Preventative Medicine, was published in the journal Health Psychology Review.
“Preconception, pregnant, and postpartum women experience weight stigma in nearly every social arena, including fertility treatment, prenatal and postpartum health care, employment, education , the media, the general public, from other mothers (i.e. peers) and in romantic relationships,” says Dr. Hill.
“And the consequences are significant with weight stigma against women of childbearing age associated with psychological stress, avoidance of healthcare, reduced motivation to adopt healthy behaviors and disordered eating contributing to to more obesity. »
Although there are interventions aimed at preventing weight stigma against the general public, none are specifically designed for PPP women, according to the authors.
After undertaking extensive study, the team led by Dr. Hill developed SWIPE. The program aims to address areas where stigma forms and manifests, including societal norms such as expecting women to meet societal ideals of thinness before being “worthy” of getting pregnant, pressure on women to return to their pre-pregnancy weight, and environments and policies that reinforce stigmatizing behaviors.
According to the article, some of the main culprits of weight stigma are factors that reinforce stigmatizing attitudes and behaviors, such as the belief that body size is entirely under individual control.
Preconception, pregnant, and postpartum women often experience this in the form of unwelcome public gazes or social exclusion. This is also evident in the media, either through the absence or inappropriate portrayal of PPP women living in larger bodies.
Dr Briony Hill, Monash School of Public Health and Preventative Medicine
Other factors that influence weight stigma among PPP women, including demographic characteristics such as race and socioeconomic status, body mass index (BMI) or adiposity, and perceptions of their weight, may influence the degree to which PPP women experience weight stigma.
According to Ms. Hailu, SWIPE can be used by researchers and program developers as a model to identify ways to stop stigmatizing PPP plus-sized women in any societal area. “SWIP informs the ‘who, what and how’ that can be targeted to eliminate weight stigma among PPP women,” she said.
“Eliminating weight stigma against women PPP directly and indirectly improves psychological well-being, ensures equitable access to care and encourages healthier behaviors – all contribute to improved overall outcomes in terms of physical and mental health of PPP women and their children.
