Hailu Haimanot, Incollingo Rodriguez Angela C, Rodriguez Anthony, Skouteris Helen, Hill Briony
Health and Social Care Unit, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
Psychological & Cognitive Sciences, Department of Social Science & Policy Studies, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, MA, USA.
Int J Obes (Lond). 2025 May;49(5):931-937. doi: 10.1038/s41366-025-01725-5. Epub 2025 Jan 28.
Weight bias is a global health challenge and community members are endorsed as the most common source of weight bias. The nature of weight biases specifically against preconception, pregnant, and postpartum (PPP) women from the perspective of community members is not known, especially in terms of cross-cultural trends. We investigated the magnitude of explicit and implicit weight bias and profiles of characteristics associated with harbouring weight bias.
We conducted a multinational investigation of clusters of factors associated with weight bias against PPP women (May-July 2023). Community members from Australia, Canada, United States (US), United Kingdom (UK), Malaysia, and India completed a cross-sectional survey measuring explicit and implicit weight biases, beliefs about weight controllability, and awareness of sociocultural body ideals. Hierarchical multiple regression and latent profile analyses identified clusters of factors associated with weight bias.
Participants from India reported the lowest explicit weight bias (B = -0.45, p = 0.02). Participants from Australia (B = -0.14, p = 0.04) and the UK (B = -0.16, p = 0.02) (vs. US) reported the lowest implicit weight bias. Three distinct profiles were identified clustering on body mass index (BMI) and weight-controllability beliefs: low-BMI/moderate-beliefs, high-BMI/more biased beliefs, and high-BMI/less biased beliefs. Profile membership varied by country of residence and weight bias outcomes with low-BMI/moderate-beliefs profiles containing more people from non-Western countries and with low explicit weight bias.
Explicit and implicit weight bias was harboured by participants across all included nations, although less pronounced in non-Western countries. Our profiles highlight that individuals who held a stronger belief that weight is controllable, regardless of their body weight, should be targeted for interventions to eliminate weight stigma.
体重偏见是一项全球性的健康挑战，社区成员被认为是体重偏见最常见的来源。从社区成员的角度来看，针对孕前、孕期和产后（PPP）女性的体重偏见的本质尚不清楚，尤其是在跨文化趋势方面。我们调查了显性和隐性体重偏见的程度以及与怀有体重偏见相关的特征概况。
我们对与针对PPP女性的体重偏见相关的因素集群进行了一项跨国调查（2023年5月至7月）。来自澳大利亚、加拿大、美国、英国、马来西亚和印度的社区成员完成了一项横断面调查，测量显性和隐性体重偏见、对体重可控性的信念以及对社会文化身体理想的认识。分层多元回归和潜在类别分析确定了与体重偏见相关的因素集群。
来自印度的参与者报告的显性体重偏见最低（B = -0.45，p = 0.02）。来自澳大利亚（B = -0.14，p = 0.04）和英国（B = -0.16，p = 0.02）（与美国相比）的参与者报告的隐性体重偏见最低。根据体重指数（BMI）和体重可控性信念确定了三个不同的概况：低BMI/中度信念、高BMI/偏见性更强的信念和高BMI/偏见性较弱的信念。概况成员因居住国家和体重偏见结果而异，低BMI/中度信念概况包含更多来自非西方国家且显性体重偏见较低的人。
所有纳入国家的参与者都存在显性和隐性体重偏见，尽管在非西方国家不太明显。我们的概况突出表明，无论体重如何，那些坚信体重可控的人应成为消除体重歧视干预措施的目标对象。
