ABSTRACT
As discussed in Chapter 1, obesity has a negative effect on students’ physical health and overall well-being. Students who are overweight or obese are at a higher risk of developing diabetes, depression, or heart disease than their normal-weight peers (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services [USDHSS], 1996). Not only do overweight or obese students experience these serious obesity-related health consequences, they also suffer many social unpleasantries. Overweight and obese students are often targets of stigmatization and biases held by the general public. Students who are overweight and obese are viewed as being stupid/unsmart, bad, ugly/unattractive, lazy/unmotivated, and incompetent due to their body weight (Puhl & Brownell, 2001). Many terms have been used interchangeably to describe stigmatizing beliefs and biases that overweight or obese students experience, including weight bias, weight stigma, obesity bias,
In this chapter, obesity bias is defined, followed by discussions on obesity bias in physical education and how it affects overweight or obese students’ motivation, engagement, and learning. Research on obesity bias interventions will be presented, and reactive and preventive teaching strategies will be provided for physical education teachers to cope with obesity bias. Based on the literature, it is recommended that a comprehensive school-wide and long-term approach targeting multiple sources at multiple levels be used to reduce obesity bias.
