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Lookup NU author(s): Professor Nicola HeslehurstORCiD, Dr Shelina Visram
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0).
Two thirds of women report experiencing weight stigma during pregnancy. Newspaper media is powerful in framing health issues. This review synthesized UK newspaper media portrayal of maternal obesity. NexisUni was searched to identify newspaper articles, published January 2010 to May 2021, reporting content on obesity during pregnancy. Framework synthesis integrated quantitative and qualitative analysis of the content of articles. There were 442 articles included (59% tabloids and 41% broadsheets). Three overarching themes with interacting sub-themes were as follows: (1) Women were blamed for their weight, risks, and NHS impact. (2) Women were solely responsible for solving obesity, gendered from school age. (3) Women with obesity were a burden on individuals (e.g., themselves, their children, and health professionals), to society, and the NHS. Catastrophizing language framed the “problem,” “scale,” and “public health concern” of maternal obesity, emphasizing risk, and danger and was alarmist, aggressive, and violent as to elicit fear or devalue women. Articles platformed ‘expert’ voices rather than women's lived experiences. This review identified that UK newspaper media negatively frames and oversimplifies the topic of maternal obesity. Exposure to blaming and alarmist messaging could increase women's guilt, stigma, and internalized weight bias. The newspaper media should be harnessed to de-stigmatize maternal obesity and promote maternal well-being.
Author(s): Heslehurst N, Evans EH, Incollingo Rodriguez AC, Nagpal TS, Visram S
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Obesity Reviews
Year: 2022
Volume: 23
Issue: 12
Print publication date: 01/12/2022
Online publication date: 21/10/2022
Acceptance date: 05/10/2022
Date deposited: 03/02/2023
ISSN (print): 1467-7881
ISSN (electronic): 1467-789X
Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/obr.13511
DOI: 10.1111/obr.13511
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