Wolfson Julia A, Gollust Sarah E, Niederdeppe Jeff, Barry Colleen L
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Milbank Q. 2015 Mar;93(1):73-111. doi: 10.1111/1468-0009.12106.
POLICY POINTS: The American public--both men and women and those with and without children in the household--holds parents highly responsible and largely to blame for childhood obesity. High attributions of responsibility to parents for reducing childhood obesity did not universally undermine support for broader policy action. School-based obesity prevention policies were strongly supported, even among those viewing parents as mostly to blame for childhood obesity. Americans who viewed sectors outside the family (such as the food and beverage industry, schools, and the government) as helping address childhood obesity were more willing to support a wider range of population-based obesity prevention policies.
The public's views of parents' behaviors and choices--and the attitudes held by parents themselves--are likely to influence the success of efforts to reverse obesity rates.
We analyzed data from 2 US national public opinion surveys fielded in 2011 and 2012 to examine attributions of blame and responsibility to parents for obesity, both among the general public and parents themselves, and we also explored the relationship between views of parents and support for obesity prevention policies.
We found that attribution of blame and responsibility to parents was consistently high, regardless of parental status or gender. Support for policies to curb childhood obesity also did not differ notably by parental status or gender. Multivariable analyses revealed consistent patterns in the association between public attitudes toward parents' responsibility and support for policies to curb childhood obesity. High parental responsibility was linked to higher support for school-targeted policies but generally was not associated with policies outside the school setting. Attribution of greater responsibility to entities external to children and their parents (schools, the food and beverage industry, and the government) was associated with greater support for both school-targeted and population-based obesity prevention policies.
Our findings suggest that the high attribution of responsibility to parents for reducing childhood obesity does not universally undermine support for broader policy action. But appealing to parents to rally support for preventing obesity in the same way as for other parent-initiated social movements (eg, drunk driving) may be challenging outside the school setting.
政策要点：美国公众——无论男女，无论家中有无子女——都认为父母对儿童肥胖负有高度责任，且大多应为此负责。将减少儿童肥胖的责任高度归咎于父母，这并未普遍削弱对更广泛政策行动的支持。即使在那些认为父母应对儿童肥胖负主要责任的人群中，以学校为基础的肥胖预防政策也得到了强烈支持。那些认为家庭以外的部门（如食品饮料行业、学校和政府）有助于解决儿童肥胖问题的美国人，更愿意支持一系列更广泛的基于人群的肥胖预防政策。
公众对父母行为和选择的看法——以及父母自身的态度——可能会影响扭转肥胖率努力的成效。
我们分析了2011年和2012年进行的两项美国全国民意调查的数据，以研究公众以及父母自身对父母导致肥胖的指责和责任归因，我们还探讨了对父母的看法与对肥胖预防政策的支持之间的关系。
我们发现，无论父母身份或性别如何，对父母的指责和责任归因一直很高。对遏制儿童肥胖政策的支持在父母身份或性别方面也没有显著差异。多变量分析揭示了公众对父母责任的态度与对遏制儿童肥胖政策的支持之间的关联存在一致模式。父母责任重大与对以学校为目标的政策的更高支持相关，但通常与学校环境之外的政策无关。将更多责任归咎于儿童及其父母之外的实体（学校、食品饮料行业和政府）与对以学校为目标和基于人群的肥胖预防政策的更大支持相关。
我们的研究结果表明，将减少儿童肥胖的责任高度归咎于父母，这并未普遍削弱对更广泛政策行动的支持。但在校外环境中，像呼吁父母为预防肥胖而团结支持的方式与其他由父母发起的社会运动（如酒后驾车）一样具有挑战性。
