Weight Stigmatization Among Hispanic American Children

Abstract

This study was designed to examine weight stigmatization among Hispanic American children. Fifty-five fifth grade students from a large, urban school district in Southern California were asked to rank six samesex drawings of children with various physical characteristics (related to weight or disability) in order of friend preference (1 = the most preferred, and 6 = the least preferred friend). Positive and negative adjectives were then assigned to the average-weight and obese drawings using the Adjective Checklist (ACL). The majority of the participants (60%) chose the average-weight child as the most preferred and 46% identified the obese child as the least preferred friend. In addition, the average-weight child was assigned more positive and fewer negative adjectives compared to the obese child. Significant differences in ACL composite scores between normal weight and overweight drawings were also found (p = 0.00). It appears that weight stigmatization is present in the current sample, which suggests that Hispanic children living in the U.S. may adopt negative attitudes about weight that are similar to American culture.