UConn Rudd Center for Food Policy and Health

The Farmington Valley Podcast Network sits down with Sally Mancini, Marlene Schwartz, and Tatiana Andreyeva to discuss the regulations on food in school as well as the state of a sugar sweetened beverage tax in Connecticut.

Host Jenna Liut welcomes Dr. Marlene Schwartz, Director of the Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity at the University of Connecticut, back on the show to discuss the article she co-authored with Dr. Kelly Brownell and Dr. Lee Miller that was recently published in the American Journal of Public Health. The article, “Primer on US Food and Nutrition Policy and Public Health,” explores the critical and inextricable link between agriculture and public health and demonstrates the need for policies that simultaneously address hunger, obesity and the effects of agricultural production on the environment.

Full citation: Pearl RL, Himmelstein MS, Puhl RM, Wadden TA, Wojtanowski AC, Foster GD. Weight bias internalization in a commercial weight management sample: prevalence and correlates. Obes Sci Pract. 2019;5(4):342-353. Published 2019 Jul 11. https://doi.org/10.1002/osp4.354

Full citation: Pomeranz JL, Harris JL. Federal Regulation of Infant and Toddler Food and Drink Marketing and Labeling. Am J Law Med. 2019;45(1):32-56. https://doi.org/10.1177/0098858819849991

Full citation: Himmelstein MS, Puhl RM, Quinn DM. Overlooked and Understudied: Health Consequences of Weight Stigma in Men. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2019;27(10):1598-1605. https://doi.org/10.1002/oby.22599

Approximately 20% of U.S. adolescents have obesity, and sexual minority females are even more likely to have higher body weight compared to their heterosexual peers, making them particularly vulnerable to weight-based teasing and bullying. While recent evidence suggests that many LGBTQ youth report experiencing Weight Bullying, this is the first study to examine how weight bullying affects eating behaviors, dieting, and weight-related health among this population.

The study, published in Appetite, is the first large-scale evidence of links between Weight Bullying, unhealthy eating behaviors, and weight-related health in LGBTQ youth, with findings revealing that LGBTQ youth who are teased or bullied about their body weight are more likely to engage in unhealthy eating behaviors, such as binge eating, unhealthy weight control, and dieting, and to have poor weightrelated health, 

Think back to your time in school and try to remember how the overweight children were treated. It is possible that you were the subject of such treatment, but if not, imagine how this would feel and whether such experiences could have an indelible impact. What are the consequences of such treatment then and later in life? When people think of stigma, bias, discrimination factors such as gender, race, and age come to mind for most people, but not necessarily weight. And weight bias is a very important topic and has been the subject of an impressive body of research.

In an earlier ‘The Leading Voices in Food’ podcast episode with Dr. Rebecca Puhl, she described the nature extent and impact of weight bias on the lives of individuals was described and clear and very moving ways. In this podcast she expands on what might be done to prevent weight stigma when it does occur and how to reduce its impact.

Research has found that weight-based victimization contributes to poor health in youth, including substance use and poorer emotional well-being. However, the harms of weight-based victimization have received almost no attention in LGBTQ youth, despite high rates of obesity and high risk for victimization and psychological distress. The study, published in Health Psychology, reports on findings from over 9,000 LGBTQ adolescents across the country who completed questionnaires examining their experiences of victimization, health, family relationships and school experiences. 

Study findings showed that LGBTQ youth who reported being teased or bullied about their weight had increased risk of alcohol use, binge drinking, marijuana use, cigarette use, as well as poorer self-rated health, higher depressive symptoms, and lower self-esteem. These findings persisted regardless of adolescents' demographic characteristics, body weight, sexual identity, gender identity, and sexual or gender minority victimization. 

Full citation: Puhl RM, Himmelstein MS, Watson RJ. Weight-based victimization among sexual and gender minority adolescents: Implications for substance use and mental health. Health Psychol. 2019;38(8):727-737. https://doi.org/10.1037/hea0000758