IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v161y2016icp55-60.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Weight-related stigma is a significant psychosocial stressor in developing countries: Evidence from Guatemala

Author

Listed:
  • Hackman, Joseph
  • Maupin, Jonathan
  • Brewis, Alexandra A.

Abstract

Weight-related stigma is established as a major psychosocial stressor and correlate of depression among people living with obesity in high-income countries. Anti-fat beliefs are rapidly globalizing. The goal of the study is to (1) examine how weight-related stigma, enacted as teasing, is evident among women from a lower-income country and (2) test if such weight-related stigma contributes to depressive symptoms. Modeling data for 12,074 reproductive-age women collected in the 2008–2009 Guatemala National Maternal-Infant Health Survey, we demonstrate that weight-related teasing is (1) experienced by those both underweight and overweight, and (2) a significant psychosocial stressor. Effects are comparable to other factors known to influence women’s depressive risk in lower-income countries, such as living in poverty, experiencing food insecurity, or suffering sexual/domestic violence. That women’s failure to meet local body norms—whether they are overweight or underweight—serves as such a strong source of psychological distress is particularly concerning in settings like Guatemala where high levels of over- and under-nutrition intersect at the household and community level. Current obesity-centric models of weight-related stigma, developed from studies in high-income countries, fail to recognize that being underweight may create similar forms of psychosocial distress in low-income countries.

Suggested Citation

  • Hackman, Joseph & Maupin, Jonathan & Brewis, Alexandra A., 2016. "Weight-related stigma is a significant psychosocial stressor in developing countries: Evidence from Guatemala," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 161(C), pages 55-60.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:161:y:2016:i:c:p:55-60
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2016.05.032
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S027795361630260X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.socscimed.2016.05.032?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Williams, D.R. & Neighbors, H.W. & Jackson, J.S., 2003. "Racial/ethnic discrimination and health: Findings from community studies," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 93(2), pages 200-208.
    2. Panter-Brick, Catherine, 2010. "Conflict, violence, and health: Setting a new interdisciplinary agenda," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 70(1), pages 1-6, January.
    3. Tampubolon, Gindo & Hanandita, Wulung, 2014. "Poverty and mental health in Indonesia," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 20-27.
    4. Brewis, Alexandra A., 2014. "Stigma and the perpetuation of obesity," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 152-158.
    5. Pike, Ivy L. & Straight, Bilinda & Oesterle, Matthias & Hilton, Charles & Lanyasunya, Adamson, 2010. "Documenting the health consequences of endemic warfare in three pastoralist communities of northern Kenya: A conceptual framework," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 70(1), pages 45-52, January.
    6. Cifuentes, Manuel & Sembajwe, Grace & Tak, SangWoo & Gore, Rebecca & Kriebel, David & Punnett, Laura, 2008. "The association of major depressive episodes with income inequality and the human development index," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 67(4), pages 529-539, August.
    7. Jehn, Megan & Brewis, Alexandra, 2009. "Paradoxical malnutrition in mother-child pairs: Untangling the phenomenon of over- and under-nutrition in underdeveloped economies," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 7(1), pages 28-35, March.
    8. Karlsen, S. & Nazroo, J.Y., 2002. "Relation between racial discrimination, social class, and health among ethnic minority groups," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 92(4), pages 624-631.
    9. Beatriz Eugenia Alvarado & Maria Victoria Zunzunegui & François Béland & Maryline Sicotte & Lourdes Tellechea, 2007. "Social and Gender Inequalities in Depressive Symptoms Among Urban Older Adults of Latin America and the Caribbean," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 62(4), pages 226-236.
    10. Lund, Crick & Breen, Alison & Flisher, Alan J. & Kakuma, Ritsuko & Corrigall, Joanne & Joska, John A. & Swartz, Leslie & Patel, Vikram, 2010. "Poverty and common mental disorders in low and middle income countries: A systematic review," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 71(3), pages 517-528, August.
    11. Deon Filmer & Lant Pritchett, 2001. "Estimating Wealth Effects Without Expenditure Data—Or Tears: An Application To Educational Enrollments In States Of India," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 38(1), pages 115-132, February.
    12. Gindling, T. H. & Trejos, Juan Diego, 2013. "The Distribution of Income in Central America," IZA Discussion Papers 7236, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    13. Wilkinson, Richard G. & Pickett, Kate E., 2007. "The problems of relative deprivation: Why some societies do better than others," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 65(9), pages 1965-1978, November.
    14. Fischbach, Ruth L. & Herbert, Barbara, 1997. "Domestic violence and mental health: Correlates and conundrums within and across cultures," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 45(8), pages 1161-1176, October.
    15. Puhl, R.M. & Heuer, C.A., 2010. "Obesity stigma: Important considerations for public health," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 100(6), pages 1019-1028.
    16. Carpenter, K.M. & Hasin, D.S. & Allison, D.B. & Faith, M.S., 2000. "Relationships between obesity and DSM-IV major depressive disorder, suicide ideation, and suicide attempts: Results from a general population study," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 90(2), pages 251-257.
    17. Miller, Kenneth E. & Rasmussen, Andrew, 2010. "War exposure, daily stressors, and mental health in conflict and post-conflict settings: Bridging the divide between trauma-focused and psychosocial frameworks," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 70(1), pages 7-16, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Panter-Brick, Catherine & Eggerman, Mark, 2018. "The field of medical anthropology in Social Science & Medicine," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 196(C), pages 233-239.
    2. Tsai, Alexander C. & Tomlinson, Mark & Comulada, W. Scott & Rotheram-Borus, Mary Jane, 2016. "Food insufficiency, depression, and the modifying role of social support: Evidence from a population-based, prospective cohort of pregnant women in peri-urban South Africa," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 69-77.
    3. Cole, Steven M. & Tembo, Gelson, 2011. "The effect of food insecurity on mental health: Panel evidence from rural Zambia," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 73(7), pages 1071-1079.
    4. Johnston, David W. & Lordan, Grace, 2012. "Discrimination makes me sick! An examination of the discrimination–health relationship," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 99-111.
    5. McNeill, Lorna Haughton & Kreuter, Matthew W. & Subramanian, S.V., 2006. "Social Environment and Physical activity: A review of concepts and evidence," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 63(4), pages 1011-1022, August.
    6. Dušan Drbohlav & Dagmar Dzúrová, 2017. "Social Hazards as Manifested Workplace Discrimination and Health (Vietnamese and Ukrainian Female and Male Migrants in Czechia)," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-16, October.
    7. Lad, Saloni U. & Sinopoli, Jacob & Khong, Brian & Conroy, Britt & Perzynski, Adam T. & del Rincon, Juan P., 2024. "Clinical and sociodemographic characteristics as predictors for quality of life in transmasculine and transfeminine individuals receiving gender-affirming hormone therapy," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 346(C).
    8. Amin, Vikesh & Flores, Carlos A. & Flores-Lagunes, Alfonso, 2020. "The impact of BMI on mental health: Further evidence from genetic markers," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 38(C).
    9. Eggerman, Mark & Panter-Brick, Catherine, 2010. "Suffering, hope, and entrapment: Resilience and cultural values in Afghanistan," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 71(1), pages 71-83, July.
    10. Kathleen Ford & Aree Jampaklay & Aphichat Chamratrithirong, 2017. "Mental health in a conflict area: Migration, economic stress and religiosity in the three southernmost provinces of Thailand," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 63(2), pages 91-98, March.
    11. Lindström, Martin, 2008. "Social capital, anticipated ethnic discrimination and self-reported psychological health: A population-based study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 66(1), pages 1-13, January.
    12. Custodio, Estefanía & Descalzo, Miguel Ángel & Roche, Jesús & Molina, Laura & Sánchez, Ignacio & Lwanga, Magdalena & Torres, Alberto Manuel & Fernández-Zincke, Eduardo & Bernis, Cristina & Villamor, E, 2010. "The economic and nutrition transition in Equatorial Guinea coincided with a double burden of over- and under nutrition," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 8(1), pages 80-87, March.
    13. Gee, Gilbert C. & Spencer, Michael & Chen, Juan & Yip, Tiffany & Takeuchi, David T., 2007. "The association between self-reported racial discrimination and 12-month DSM-IV mental disorders among Asian Americans nationwide," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 64(10), pages 1984-1996, May.
    14. Muhammad Qasim & Zahid Pervaiz & Amatul Razzaq Chaudhary, 2020. "Do Poverty and Income Inequality Mediate the Association Between Agricultural Land Inequality and Human Development?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 151(1), pages 115-134, August.
    15. Trani, Jean-François & Cannings, Tim I., 2013. "Child Poverty in an Emergency and Conflict Context: A Multidimensional Profile and an Identification of the Poorest Children in Western Darfur," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 48-70.
    16. Grayman, Jesse Hession, 2014. "Rapid response: Email, immediacy, and medical humanitarianism in Aceh, Indonesia," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 334-343.
    17. Lucio Esposito & Shatakshee Dhongde & Christopher Millett, 2021. "Smoking habits in Mexico: Upward and downward comparisons of economic status," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(3), pages 1558-1575, August.
    18. Piperata, Barbara A. & Schmeer, Kammi K. & Rodrigues, Andres Herrera & Salazar Torres, Virgilio Mariano, 2016. "Food insecurity and maternal mental health in León, Nicaragua: Potential limitations on the moderating role of social support," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 171(C), pages 9-17.
    19. Ha-Jin Jang & Hannah Oh, 2021. "Trends and Inequalities in Overall and Abdominal Obesity by Sociodemographic Factors in Korean Adults, 1998–2018," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(8), pages 1-19, April.
    20. Tay, Alvin Kuowei & Rees, Susan & Chan, Jack & Kareth, Moses & Silove, Derrick, 2015. "Examining the broader psychosocial effects of mass conflict on PTSD symptoms and functional impairment amongst West Papuan refugees resettled in Papua New Guinea (PNG)," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 70-78.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:161:y:2016:i:c:p:55-60. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/315/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.