Institute of Sports Science, Eberhard Karls University, Tübingen, Germany,
Institute of Sports Science, Eberhard Karls University, Tübingen, Germany.
Obes Facts. 2020;13(3):386-402. doi: 10.1159/000507936. Epub 2020 Jun 30.
People with obesity often report experiences of weight-related discrimination. In order to find out how such experiences throughout the life course are related to physical activity behavior, we exploratively studied activity-related biographies of people with obesity from a social constructivist perspective.
We collected biographical data of 30 adults (mean age 37.66 years; 14 males and 16 females) with obesity (average BMI 40.64, including a range from 33 to 58) using a biography visualization tool that allows participants to map developmental courses and critical life experiences over their life course.
Participants remembered a continuous decrease of physical activity from childhood to mid-adulthood. Weight-related discrimination, both in sport and non-sport settings, was especially experienced in adolescence and mid-adulthood. Against the background of our findings, we assume that the degree of felt stigma rather than the stigmatizing behavior itself influences physical activity behavior over the life course.
The results of our exploratory study reiterate the detrimental effect weight stigma can have on health behaviors. Initiatives are needed to reduce weight stigma in exercise contexts; additionally, initiatives to promote physical activity should focus on helping individuals with obesity to establish coping strategies to reduce the experienced burden from weight stigma.
肥胖人群经常会经历与体重相关的歧视。为了探究这种贯穿一生的经历与身体活动行为之间的关系，我们从社会建构主义的角度探索性地研究了肥胖人群与活动相关的传记。
我们使用传记可视化工具收集了 30 名肥胖成年人（平均年龄 37.66 岁；男性 14 名，女性 16 名）的传记数据。该工具允许参与者绘制其整个生命历程中的发展轨迹和关键生活经历。
参与者记得从童年到中年，身体活动持续减少。在运动和非运动环境中，与体重相关的歧视尤其在青少年和中年时期经历过。基于我们的发现，我们假设感知到的耻辱程度，而不是耻辱行为本身，会影响整个生命过程中的身体活动行为。
我们探索性研究的结果再次强调了体重歧视对健康行为的不利影响。需要采取措施减少运动环境中的体重歧视；此外，促进身体活动的举措应侧重于帮助肥胖个体建立应对策略，以减轻因体重歧视而产生的负担。
