Abstract
Purpose: To explore how African-American and Caucasian adolescent girls describe weight-related
stigmatization experiences and their responses to these experiences.
Methodology: Fifty girls from five urban Midwest high schools participated in the
study (mean age 16.1 years, mean body mass index 33.6). The girls participated in
clinical research interviews, which were audiotaped, transcribed, and coded.
Results: All but two of the participants described stigmatizing experiences, the most
frequently reported of which were direct and intentional, such as name calling and
teasing. Hurtful comments and behaviors by family members and peers which appeared
to be less intentional were also described by study participants. Responses to these
experiences varied both within and across interviews and included ignoring or attempting
to ignore hurtful experiences, feeling hurt, and getting mad.
Conclusions: The results stress the importance of discussing issues of stigmatization
and responses to these hurtful experiences with overweight youth within clinical and
educational settings. Furthermore, family members, teachers, and nonoverweight peers
need to increase their awareness of the impact of their remarks on and behavior toward
overweight youth within a society that values thinness. © Society for Adolescent Medicine,
1998
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Accepted:
December 10,
1997
Identification
Copyright
© 1998 Society for Adolescent Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
