UCL Discovery
UCL home » Library Services » Electronic resources » UCL Discovery

Perceived weight discrimination in England: a population-based study of adults aged >50 years.

Jackson, SE; Steptoe, A; Beeken, RJ; Croker, H; Wardle, J; (2014) Perceived weight discrimination in England: a population-based study of adults aged >50 years. International Journal of Obesity , 39 pp. 858-864. 10.1038/ijo.2014.186. Green open access

[thumbnail of ijo2014186a.pdf]
Preview
PDF
ijo2014186a.pdf

Download (318kB)

Abstract

Background:Despite a wealth of experimental studies on weight bias, little is known about weight discrimination at the population level. This study examined the prevalence and socio-demographic correlates of perceived weight discrimination in a large population-based sample of older adults.Methods:Data were from 5307 adults in the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing; a population-based cohort of men and women aged ⩾50 years. Weight discrimination was reported for five domains (less respect/courtesy; treated as less clever; poorer treatment in medical settings; poorer service in restaurants/stores; threatened/harassed) at wave 5 (2010-2011). Height and weight were measured at wave 4 (2008-2009). We used logistic regression to test the odds of weight discrimination in relation to weight status, age, sex, wealth, education and marital status.Results:Perceived weight discrimination in any domain was reported by 4.6% of participants, ranging from 0.8% in the normal-weight participants through 0.9, 6.7, 24.2 and 35.1% in individuals who were overweight or met criteria for class I, II and III obesity. Overall, and in each situation, odds of perceived weight discrimination were higher in younger and less wealthy individuals. There was no interaction between weight status and any socio-demographic variable. Relative to normal-weight participants, odds ratios for any perceived weight discrimination were 1.13 (95% confidence interval 0.53-2.40) in those who were overweight, 8.86 (4.65-16.88) in those with class I obesity, 35.06 (18.30-67.16) in class II obese and 56.43 (27.72-114.87) in class III obese.Conclusions:Our results indicate that rates of perceived weight discrimination are comparatively low in individuals who are overweight or have class I obesity, but for those with class II/III obesity, >10% had experienced discrimination in each domain, and >20% had been treated with less respect or courtesy. These findings have implications for public policy and highlight the need for effective interventions to promote equality.International Journal of Obesity advance online publication, 2 December 2014; doi:10.1038/ijo.2014.186.

Type: Article
Title: Perceived weight discrimination in England: a population-based study of adults aged >50 years.
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1038/ijo.2014.186
Publisher version: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ijo.2014.186
Language: English
Additional information: © 2014 Macmillan Publishers Limited. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if the material is not included under the Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder to reproduce the material.
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute of Epidemiology and Health
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute of Epidemiology and Health > Behavioural Science and Health
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > UCL GOS Institute of Child Health
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > UCL GOS Institute of Child Health > Population, Policy and Practice Dept
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1452306
Downloads since deposit
217Downloads
Download activity - last month
Download activity - last 12 months
Downloads by country - last 12 months

Archive Staff Only

View Item View Item