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A 65-item measure was created to evaluate five areas of child-care center policies: nutrition education, nutrition standards for foods and beverages, promoting healthy eating in the child-care setting, physical activity, and communication and evaluation. The total scale and each subscale were scored on comprehensiveness and strength. Analyses were conducted on 94 independent policies from Connecticut child-care centers participating in the Child and Adult Care Food Program.

The study concluded that this instrument provides a standardized method to analyze and compare the comprehensiveness and strength of written nutrition and physical activity policies in child-care centers.

Full citation: Falbe J, Kenney EL, Henderson KE, Schwartz MB. The Wellness Child Care Assessment Tool: a measure to assess the quality of written nutrition and physical activity policies. J Am Diet Assoc. 2011;111(12):1852-1860. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jada.2011.09.006

Parents viewed images of box fronts for children’s cereals of below-average nutritional quality, as assessed by a validated nutrient profiling model. These boxes featured various nutrition-related claims, including ‘supports your child’s immunity’, ‘whole grain’, ‘fibre’, ‘calcium and vitamin D’ and ‘organic’. Participants were provided possible meanings for these claims and asked to select any that applied, with the option to write in additional meanings. They also indicated how the claim would affect their willingness to buy the product.

The majority of parents misinterpreted the meaning of claims commonly used on children’s cereals. They inferred that cereals with claims were more nutritious overall and might provide specific health-related benefits for their children, and these beliefs predicted greater willingness to buy the cereals. These findings indicate that common front-of-package nutrition-related claims are potentially misleading, especially when placed on products with high levels of nutrients to limit (e.g., sugar, sodium) and low levels of other nutrients to encourage (e.g., fibre, protein). Additional regulation is needed to protect consumers in the USA.

Full citation: Harris JL, Thompson JM, Schwartz MB, Brownell KD. Nutrition-related claims on children’s cereals: what do they mean to parents and do they influence willingness to buy?. Public Health Nutr. 2011;14(12):2207-2212. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1368980011001741

Adolescents report that being overweight is a primary reason that students are teased at school, according to a study from the Rudd Center. The study appears online in the journal Journal of School Health.

Weight-based victimization has become increasingly reported among overweight youth, but little is known about adolescents’ perceptions and observations of weight-based teasing and bullying. This study examined adolescents’ observations of and reactions to weight-based victimization toward overweight students at school.

Participants perceived being overweight as a primary reason that peers are victimized at school. At least 84% of participants observed overweight students being teased in a mean way and teased during physical activities, and 65% to 77% of students observed overweight and obese peers being ignored, avoided, excluded from social activities, having negative rumors spread about them, and being teased in the cafeteria. Most students also observed verbal threats and physical harassment toward overweight and obese students. Although the majority of participants felt comfortable stepping in to help an overweight peer who has been teased, many remain passive bystanders following these incidents.

Full citation: Puhl RM, Luedicke J, Heuer C. Weight-based victimization toward overweight adolescents: observations and reactions of peers. J Sch Health. 2011;81(11):696-703. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1746-1561.2011.00646.x

This study examined PE teachers’ and coaches’ responses to different types of victimization involving average-weight and overweight students. Teachers and coaches were more likely to take action when overweight female students were victims of bullying, specifically in situations of verbal and relational victimization. Male participants were less likely to respond to victimization than female participants. Findings suggest the importance of increasing awareness about weight-based victimization and its consequences, especially among male physical educators. Implications for the psychological, social, and physical development of overweight youth are discussed.

Full citation: Peterson JL, Puhl RM, Luedicke J. An experimental investigation of physical education teachers’ and coaches’ reactions to weight-based victimization in youth. Psychology of Sport and Exercise. 2012;13(2):177-185. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2011.10.009

The aims of this study were to compare weight-based attitudes in obese Latino adults with and without binge eating disorder (BED) and to examine whether these attitudes are related to indices of eating disorder psychopathology and psychological functioning. Analyses revealed that negative attitudes toward obesity did not differ significantly between the BED and non–binge-eating groups, nor were they correlated with the intensity of eating disorder psychopathology (eg, levels of weight and shape concerns). Overall, the levels of negative attitudes toward obesity in this Latino/Latina group are similar to those reported previously for samples of English-speaking primarily white obese persons. These findings suggest that it may be obesity per se—rather than eating disorder psychopathology or body image—that heightens vulnerability to negative weight-based attitudes.

Full citation: Puhl RM, White MA, Paris M, Anez LM, Silva MA, Grilo CM. Negative weight-based attitudes in treatment-seeking obese monolingual Hispanic patients with and without binge eating disorder. Compr Psychiatry. 2011;52(6):737-743. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.comppsych.2010.11.006

Adolescents who experience Weight Bullying in school often cope with these experiences in ways that may be harmful for their emotional and physical well-being, according to a study by the Rudd Center. The study appears online in the journal Journal of Youth and Adolescence.

Overweight and obese youth face frequent stigmatization because of their excess weight, most often in the form of teasing and bullying. Weight stigmatization in youth begins early in childhood and is prevalent in the school setting by adolescence. Not only are obese youth vulnerable to stigmatization from peers, but increasing studies also indicate that educators and even parents are sources of weight bias. This has concerning implications for children’s health, because research over the past decade has consistently demonstrated links between weight-based stigmatization and negative outcomes for psychological, social, and physical well-being.

To reduce weight-based stigmatization and protect obese youth from the deleterious effects of victimization, efforts are needed to identify and evaluate successful methods to reduce bias toward obese youths, implement effective school-based policies that prohibit weight-based victimization, and ensure that initiatives to address childhood obesity do not impose further stigmatization on overweight and obese youth.

Full citation: Puhl RM. Weight Stigmatization Toward Youth: A Significant Problem in Need of Societal Solutions. Childhood Obesity. 2011;7(5):359-363. https://doi.org/10.1089/chi.2011.0500.pers

Full citation: Puhl RM, Peterson JL, Luedicke J. Parental perceptions of weight terminology that providers use with youth. Pediatrics. 2011;128(4):e786-e793. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2010-3841

The present study assessed the influence of exposure to weight stigma on energy intake in both overweight and normal-weight adult women. Seventy-three women, both overweight (n = 34) and normal weight (n = 39), were randomly assigned to view one of two videos depicting either weight-stigmatizing material or neutral material, after which they consumed snacks ad libitum. Pre- and post-video measures included blood pressure, attitudes toward overweight individuals, and positive and negative affect. Participants’ body weight was measured, as was the number of kilocalories consumed following video exposure.

Overweight women who watched the stigmatizing video ate more than three times as many kilocalories as overweight women who watched the neutral video, and significantly more calories than the normal-weight individuals who watched either the stigmatizing or the neutral video. These findings suggest that among overweight women, exposure to weight-stigmatizing material may lead to increased caloric consumption. This directly challenges the notion that pressure to lose weight in the form of weight stigma will have a positive, motivating effect on overweight individuals.

Full citation: Schvey NA, Puhl RM, Brownell KD. The impact of weight stigma on caloric consumption. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2011;19(10):1957-1962. https://doi.org/10.1038/oby.2011.204