Attributions of Body Weight Among Persons with Obesity

Authors: Pipolo J* and Finney K

DOI: 10.23880/pprij-16000460

Volume 10, Issue 3

Abstract

The obesity epidemic has become a major public health concern as 42.8% of adults in the U.S. today are estimated to being obese. Moreover, rates of obesity illuminate that over the past sixty years, obesity prevalence has more than tripled and severe obesity has become ten times more prevalent in the U.S. The body of literature that has attempted to explain the large surge in obesity prevalence has largely operated from a biological framework. The biological framework has aided in better understanding how biological mechanisms contribute toward growing trends in obesity, but it is insufficient in explaining the dramatic rise in obesity prevalence alone. Emerging areas in research have unveiled that obesity prevalence is largely due to a complex relationship of biological, social, and psychological factors. Given these new areas, research investigating the perspectives of persons with obesity are sparse and needed. Moreover, little is known what persons with obesity attribute toward their weight category. Health beliefs around attribution formation appears to be an important area for research, as studies have demonstrated that the way we perceive health has implications for how we engage in positive health behaviors. This paper summarizes the need for research in this given area to explore the attributions of body weight among persons with obesity.

Keywords: Obesity Epidemic; Obesity; Weight Based Stigma; Attributions

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