THE DEVELOPMENT AND VALIDATION OF IMAGE-BASED QUESTIONNAIRE FOR WEIGHT BIAS AND STIGMATIZATION ASSESSMENT AMONG SCHOOL-AGED CHILDREN: A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY

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dc.contributor.authorBustami, Lina
dc.date.accessioned2025-01-15T07:19:06Z
dc.date.available2025-01-15T07:19:06Z
dc.date.issued2024-11-14
dc.description.abstractBackground: Obesity is a well-recognized complex global epidemic. There are multiple causes and complications of obesity, physical and psychological ones. The experiences of weight bias and stigmatization against individuals with obesity is one challenge, which often goes unnoticed. Weight stigma is associated with many negative outcomes, including psychological disturbances, eating disorders, weight gain, and avoiding physical activity. Weight stigmatization is prevalent among different age groups, and was identified to be high among children at a young age. Objective: The main purpose of the study is to assess the percentage of weight bias and stigmatization among school-aged children, through the development of an image-based tool that is suitable for children’s cognitive abilities. This study is conducted as a step-1 for further educational intervention studies to reduce weight stigma among children. Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 150 children aged 6-9 year in three schools in Nablus City, Palestine: Pioneers Baccalaureate School, Ethar School (2nd grade), and UNRWA school. The assessment was carried after the development and validation of a questionnaire, designed specially to assess weight stigmatization percentage among children at early age. Result: 71% of children attributed “Ugly” adjective to characters with overweight compared to only 8.7% to those with under and normal weights. Also, 89% of children chose the character with overweight for “lazy” trait, 72% for “careless”. In contrast, 81.9%, 81.9%, of participants chose the figures with underweight and overweight for “loved”, and “good”, adjectives, respectively. Only one child chose the figure with overweight as a best friend. 84.6% (n=126) chose figures with under or normal weights as the one they like the most, while the one with overweight was chosen only 1.3% of time (n=1.3). Additionally, 81.9% (n=122) of children agreed with the statement that the character with overweight eats more than required, whereas only 18.1 (n=18.1) disagreed. 61.7% expressed their agreement with “I think he/she sleeps a lot”. In addition, 59.1% (n= 88) of children disagreed that the character can’t lose weight even when he/she stops overeating. Conclusion: The study indicated a high percentage of weight stigmatization among school aged children in the current study. Stereotyping, weight bias and judgmental attitudes towards individuals with overweight were common in all the three sections of the developed image-based questionnaire. These findings highlight the importance of acting towards reducing weight stigma among children, and suitable educational programs are recommended to be established. Keywords: weight stigma, weight bias, obesity, children, tool validation
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11888/19807
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherAn-Najah National University
dc.supervisorAnabtawi, Ola
dc.supervisorBadrsawi, Manal
dc.titleTHE DEVELOPMENT AND VALIDATION OF IMAGE-BASED QUESTIONNAIRE FOR WEIGHT BIAS AND STIGMATIZATION ASSESSMENT AMONG SCHOOL-AGED CHILDREN: A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY
dc.title.alternativeاستخدام استبيان يعتمد على الرسومات لتقييم ظواهر التحيّز والوصم بسبب الوزن بين الأطفال في سن المدرسة- دراسة مقطعية
dc.typeThesis
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