ArticleCanadian journal of public health = Revue canadienne de sante publique2017
A critical analysis of obesity prevention policies and strategies.
Article in Canadian journal of public health = Revue canadienne de sante publique, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 34 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
34 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 63 citations in OpenAlex.
- Does Body Mass Index Confer Risk for Future Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors? A Meta-analysis of Longitudinal Studies.Current obesity reports · 2022Pooled it
- Obesity in adults: a clinical practice guideline.CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne · 2020 · on this mapGuideline
- "Healthy Habits, Healthy Girls-Brazil": an obesity prevention program with added focus on eating disorders.Eating and weight disorders : EWD · 2019Trial
- Weight stigma in Latin America and the Caribbean: regional evidence and a call to action by ABESO.Lancet regional health. Americas · 2026Review
- Rethinking Obesity Prevention: A Call for Strategic and Operational Clarity.Current obesity reports · 2026Review
- Article
- Consolidating International Care Models and Clinical Services for Adult Obesity.Current obesity reports · 2025Review
- Article
- Impact of out-of-home nutrition labelling on people with eating disorders: a systematic review and meta-synthesis.BMJ public health · 2025Article
- Intersecting Expectations when Expecting: Pregnancy-Related Weight Stigma in Women of Colour.Journal of immigrant and minority health · 2024Article
- Inequities in dietary intake and eating behaviours among adolescents in Canada.Canadian journal of public health = Revue canadienne de sante publique · 2024Article
- Exploring the longitudinal associations between census division income inequality and BMI trajectories among Canadian adolescent: Is gender an effect modifier?SSM - population health · 2023Article
- Body-related shame and authentic pride are independently associated with self-rated health in young adults.Health promotion and chronic disease prevention in Canada : research, policy and practice · 2023Article
- [Obesity and intersectionality: critical analysis of narratives within public health policies in Brazil (2004-2021)].Cadernos de saude publica · 2023Article
- Drivers of medicalization in the Canadian Adult Obesity Clinical Practice Guidelines.Canadian journal of public health = Revue canadienne de sante publique · 2022Article
- Influence and effects of weight stigmatisation in media: A systematic.EClinicalMedicine · 2022Review
- "Maybe a little bit of guilt isn't so bad for the overall health of an individual": a mixed-methods exploration of young adults' experiences with calorie labelling.BMC public health · 2022Article
- A critique of the English national policy from a social determinants of health perspective using a realist and problem representation approach: the 'Childhood Obesity: a plan for action' (2016, 2018, 2019).BMC public health · 2021Article
- Moving Toward Health Policy that Respects Both Science and People Living with Obesity.The Nursing clinics of North America · 2021Review
- Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesPublic health policies have been criticized for promoting a simplistic narrative that may contribute to weight bias. Weight bias can impact population health by increasing morbidity and mortality. The objectives of this study were to: 1 ) critically analyze Canadian obesity prevention policies and strategies to identify underlying dominant narratives; 2) deconstruct dominant narratives and consider the unintended consequences for people with obesity; and 3) make recommendations to change dominant obesity narratives that may be contributing to weight bias.
methodsWe applied Bacchi's "what's-the-problem-represented-to-be?" (WPR) approach to 15 obesity prevention policies and strategies (1 national, 2 territorial and 12 provincial). Bacchi's WPR approach is composed of six analytical questions designed to identify conceptual assumptions as well as possible effects of policies.
resultsWe identified five prevailing narratives that may have implications for public health approaches and unintended consequences for people with obesity: 1 ) childhood obesity threatens the health of future generations and must be prevented; 2) obesity can be prevented through healthy eating and physical activity; 3) obesity is an individual behaviour problem; 4) achieving a healthy body weight should be a population health target; and 5) obesity is a risk factor for other chronic diseases, not a disease in itself.
conclusionThe consistent way in which obesity is constructed in Canadian policies and strategies may be contributing to weight bias in our society. We provide some recommendations for changing these narratives to prevent further weight bias and obesity stigma.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.