Approximately 66 percent of American adults are overweight or obese. Among these Americans, a disproportionate number of racial/ethnic minorities and individuals of lower socioeconomic status (SES) are obese (Paeratakul, White, Williamson, Ryan, and Bray, 2002). Despite prevalent messages about the negative health consequences of being obese, these numbers continue to rise. The most common approach to weight reduction and control has been to focus the health consequences (e.g. heart disease, cancer, hypertension, Type 2 diabetes) of being overweight and behavior (diet and exercise). However, the continual increase of obesity in the US implies that these approaches might be limited in their effectiveness. If creating awareness about the detrimental effects of being overweight and urging individuals to change their diet and exercise behaviors is not the complete solution to fighting the obesity epidemic, then what is the solution? One deficit of a heath consequence-behavioral approach to weight reduction is that it overlooks how attitudes on becoming and remaining overweight are influenced by socio-cultural factors such race/ethnicity and SES. Research suggests that race/ethnicity and SES may influence attitudes about weight. For instance, work by Hebl and colleagues (1998;2005) illustrates racial differences in attitudes toward obesity with Blacks being more accepting of being overweight than Whites. Likewise, research by Lynch and colleagues (2007) indicates an association between SES and body image with individuals of lower SES holding a higher ideal body size than individuals of higher SES. In spite of research evidencing relationships between both race/ethnicity and SES and obesity-related attitudes, the link between attitudes about obesity and the disproportionate prevalence of obesity among racial/ethnic minorities and individuals of lower SES has not been explicitly and fully examined. The proposed research will explore the impact of socio-cultural factors on the obesity epidemic by investigating obesity-related attitudes as a function of race/ethnicity and SES.
The specific aims of the proposed research project are: 1) to examine the prevalence of obesity stigma and other obesity-related attitudes across race/ethnicity and SES, and 2) to examine the relationship between obesity-related attitudes and attitudes toward weight control.
Understanding the influence of socio-cultural factors on weight gain and maintenance is key in developing methods to combat obesity and decreasing health disparities among disproportionately affected demographics.
