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The feminist perspective is relevant to the understanding, prevention, and treatment of disturbances in eating and body image. However, limited empirical research has explored the relationship between feminist identity and weight stigma. The present study examined the associations between feminist beliefs, externalized weight bias, internalized weight bias, body image, and eating disturbances. Two hundred sixty-five racially and ethnically diverse young women were recruited from a university in the Pacific Rim. Participants completed questionnaires online and interrelationships were examined using a series of regressions. Externalized weight bias was significantly negatively associated with both feminist beliefs and identification as a feminist. However, stronger feminist beliefs and identity were significantly associated with higher internalized weight bias, worse body dissatisfaction, and greater incidence of eating disturbances. The results of the present study suggest that structural change driven by feminist values and principles may be effective for reducing weight bias and possibly other risk factors present in broader society but potentially less effective on an individual level. Longitudinal research is needed to confirm the direction of these relationships and to understand which components of feminist theory and feminist values can be most helpful in reducing weight bias on an individual level, while still addressing structural change.

Full Citation: Bennett, B. L., Wagner, A. F., Puhl, R. M., Lamere, A., & Latner, J. D. (2025). Feminism and its associations with weight stigma, body image, and disordered eating: A risk or protective factor? Obesities, 5(2), 40. https://doi.org/10.3390/obesities5020040

Purpose and Methods: Parents frequently use stigmatizing language when discussing body weight with their adolescent child. This study examined the efficacy of a universal weight stigma intervention on the quality of conversations about weight between parents and their children. Audio recordings of parent-adolescent conversations about weight at baseline and at 3 and 6 months postrandomization were analyzed in this substudy of parents and early adolescents who were enrolled in a parallel group randomized controlled trial.

Results: Audio-recorded conversations about body weight among intervention group participants had 28% less stigmatizing content at 3 months and 24% less stigmatizing content at 6 months than in the control group. No between-group differences in nonstigmatizing content were observed.

Discussion: The universal weight stigma intervention was associated with improvements in the quality of conversations about body weight. As such, it holds promise as an intervention strategy to help guide parents toward having more supportive, nonstigmatizing conversations about body weight and related health behaviors with their adolescent child.

Full Citation: Rancaño, K. M., Skeer, M., Puhl, R., Eliasziw, M., & Must, A. (2025). Efficacy of a universal weight stigma intervention on the quality of parent-child conversations about weight. Journal of Adolescent Health, 76(4), 680–689. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2024.11.012

The prevalence and harms of societal weight stigma have increased attention to its presence in public health approaches and communication. Calls to action from scholars, advocates, and health professionals emphasize the need to address weight stigma as a social justice issue and eliminate harmful narratives that perpetuate weight bias and discrimination in public health messages, practices, and policies. However, debates surrounding issues of weight stigma in public health complicate, and at times impair, efforts to effectively address this problem. Different (and sometimes opposing) perspectives include views about the health risks versus stigma effects of high body weight, the use of body mass index (BMI) as a metric of health, weight-normative (i.e., weight-centric) versus weight-inclusive treatment approaches, stigmatizing language used to describe body weight, and potential challenges when framing obesity as a disease. This review summarizes the current evidence, debates, and best practices related to weight stigma in public health efforts.

Full Citation: Puhl R. M. (2025). Facing Challenges for Reducing Weight Stigma in Public Health Policy and Practice. Annual review of public health, 46(1), 133–150. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-publhealth-060722-024519

This study examined how school personnel support and LGBTQ in-school resources, together, moderated the association between identity-based harassment, depressive symptoms, and anxiety symptoms among a national sample of SGDY (N = 13,500, Mage = 15.50, SD = 1.34). Multigroup path analysis revealed that for SGDY in middle school (i.e., 6–8) and high school grade levels (i.e., 9–12), school personnel support and LGBTQ in-school resources jointly moderated the association between identity-based harassment and depressive symptoms. Among SGDY who reported high levels of harassment, support from school personnel buffered the association between identity-based harassment and depressive symptoms. However, at low levels of harassment, it was a combination of high support from school personnel and LGBTQ in-school resources that was linked to the lowest levels of depressive symptoms. SGDY reported more depressive symptoms when they perceived low levels of support from school personnel, regardless of the concentration of LGBTQ in-school resources.

Full Citation: McCauley, P. S., Eaton, L. A., Puhl, R. M., & Watson, R. J. (2025). Support from school personnel and in-school resources jointly moderate the association between identity-based harassment and depressive symptoms among sexual and gender diverse youth. Journal of Educational Psychology, 117(3), 445–465. https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000945

School meals play an important role in supporting children’s nutrition. Despite substantial improvements in the nutritional quality of school meals following the 2010 Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, concerns remain regarding the level of processing of the foods served in schools. This may be due to growing evidence of potential adverse outcomes associated with ultra-processed foods, which are industrial formulations designed to enhance the hyper-palatability and shelf life of foods. To better understand how frequently schools serve processed or minimally processed foods, a sample of 1,226 school food authorities (SFAs) across 8 states with and without state-level healthy school meals for all (HSMFA) policies were surveyed.

Full Citation: Cohen J, Chapman L, Gombi-Vaca M, Gosliner W, Hecht C, Hecht K, Schwartz M, Zuercher M, Ritchie L. Research Brief: Current State of Processed Foods in Schools. https://www.childnourishlab.org/healthy-school-meals-for-all

High-sugar breakfast cereal brands target their TV advertising directly to children under age 12, resulting in greater household purchases of these unhealthy children’s cereals, according to a new study from researchers at the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Health at the University of Connecticut.

The study’s findings, published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, revealed that advertising of high-sugar children’s cereals to children – but not to adults – leads to increased purchases of advertised children’s cereals in a large sample of households with children. These findings provide further evidence that the food industry’s promises to self-regulate child-directed food advertising will not have a meaningful impact on children’s diets until companies stop marketing unhealthy foods directly to children altogether.

Research is needed to demonstrate the impact of child-directed advertising on household purchases of nutrient-poor children’s foods to support mandatory government regulations. This study examines the relationship between total TV advertising to children versus adults and U.S. household purchases of high-sugar children’s cereals. Posthoc analyses examine potential differential marginal effects of advertising on households experiencing health disparities.

Advertising children’s cereals directly to children may increase household purchases and children’s consumption of these high-sugar products. Child-directed advertising may also disproportionately influence purchases by Black households. This study supports further restrictions on advertising of nutrient-poor foods directly to children.

Full Citation: Harris, J. L., Khanal, B., Fleming-Milici, F., & Andreyeva, T. (2025b). Children’s cereal purchases by U.S. households: Associations with Child Versus Adult TV ad exposure. American Journal of Preventive Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2024.11.022

Incorporating scratch-cooked, organic, and locally grown foods into school meal programs can enhance meal quality and support local food systems. 430 California school food authorities were surveyed to (1) evaluate their use of scratch-cooked, organic, and locally grown foods in their programs; (2) identify demographic and operational characteristics related to this use; and (3) analyze the relationship between serving more of these foods and perceived barriers to student meal participation.

Most respondents reported using scratch-cooked (82%) and locally grown foods (80%) in their school meals, with one-third serving organic foods (34%). Receiving grants to buy local produce and having a larger enrollment of White students were associated with more frequent use of these foods. More scratch cooking was associated with higher use of organic and locally grown foods and fewer perceptions of student nonparticipation due to concerns over meal healthfulness, taste, and freshness. More frequent use of organic and locally grown foods was also associated with fewer perceptions of student nonparticipation due to concerns about meal healthfulness.

Full Citation: Zuercher, M. D., Orta-Aleman, D., French, C. D., Cohen, J. F. W., Hecht, C. A., Hecht, K., Chapman, L. E., Read, M., Ohri-Vachaspati, P., Schwartz, M. B., Patel, A. I., Ritchie, L. D., & Gosliner, W. (2025). Factors and Outcomes Associated With Using Scratch-Cooked, Organic, and Locally Grown Foods in School Meals in California. The Journal of school health, 10.1111/josh.13533. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1111/josh.13533

Objective: Prior work has documented inequities in disordered eating behavior (DEB) prevalence across gender identity, race, and ethnicity, yet has often ignored the fact that individuals belong to multiple social groups simultaneously. The present study assessed DEB inequities at the intersection of gender identity and race/ethnicity.

Results: The sample included n = 10,287 adolescents (68% gender-diverse, 33% belonging to marginalized racial/ethnic groups). Hispanic gender-nonconforming youth had a high prevalence of multiple DEBs: restricting prevalence was 67.1% (95% CI [62.1%–72.2%]), vomiting prevalence was 25.9% (95% CI [21.6%–31.0%]), and binge eating prevalence was 46.0% (95% CI [40.2%–51.4%]). For all outcomes, at least one stratum had disproportionately low prevalence; for all outcomes except vomiting, at least one stratum had disproportionately high prevalence, indicative of intersectional interactions between gender identity and race/ethnicity.

Discussion: DEB prevalence among adolescents varies substantially at the intersection of gender and race/ethnicity, with the highest prevalence among those belonging to multiple marginalized groups. Future research is needed on the multilevel drivers of DEBs.

Full Citation: Forrest, L. N., Bennett, B. L., Beccia, A., Puhl, R., & Watson, R. J. (2025). Prevalence of disordered eating behaviors among sexual and gender minority youth varies at the intersection of gender identity and Race/Ethnicity. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 58(3), 635–646. https://doi.org/10.1002/eat.24352

Weight-related conversations are common between adolescents and parents. However, there is limited understanding of how these conversations vary across sociodemographic groups, such as sex, sexual orientation, race/ethnicity, or parents’ level of education. This study assessed the prevalence of weight-related communication among adolescents and parents across sociodemographic characteristics, and identified adolescents’ preferred sources for these discussions.

While few differences emerged based on race/ethnicity or grade level, significant variation was observed for sex, sexual orientation, and parental education. Girls, sexual minority youth, high school students, and those with college-educated parents were more likely to communicate about their own weight, whereas boys were more likely to comment on others’ weight. Most adolescents preferred healthcare professionals (71%) and parents (69%) for these conversations, although sexual minority youth preferred mental health professionals considerably more than parents. Among parents, 77% discussed their child’s weight, with fathers and Latinx parents engaging more frequently in these conversations, and Black parents engaging least frequently.

Full Citation: Lessard, L. M., Wu, R., Puhl, R. M., Foster, G. D., & Cardel, M. I. (2024). Adolescent experiences of weight‐related communication: Sociodemographic differences and the role of parents. Pediatric Obesity, 20(2). https://doi.org/10.1111/ijpo.13196