Children Demonstrate Significant Weight Bias

Obese children and adolescents report high levels of victimization by peers, family, teachers, and healthcare providers. The stigma of being obese has been linked to depression, anxiety, poor academic performance, troubled social relationships, and suicidal ideation. Studies in adults demonstrate implicit bias against overweight people. Using a validated method (the Affect Misattribution Procedure), researchers evaluated implicit weight bias in 114 children aged 9 to 11 years. Most participants (71%) were healthy weight, 21% were overweight, and 8% were underweight.

Participants were shown 9 pairs of photographs — in each pair, a child followed by a fractal — and were asked to rate the second image as “good” or “bad.” The difference in the p…