Nicola Heslehurst
Newspaper media framing of obesity during pregnancy in the UK: A review and framework synthesis
Heslehurst, Nicola; Evans, Elizabeth H.; Incollingo Rodriguez, Angela C.; Nagpal, Taniya S.; Visram, Shelina
Authors
Dr Elizabeth Evans elizabeth.evans@durham.ac.uk
Associate Professor
Angela C. Incollingo Rodriguez
Taniya S. Nagpal
Shelina Visram
Abstract
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.
Citation
Heslehurst, N., Evans, E. H., Incollingo Rodriguez, A. C., Nagpal, T. S., & Visram, S. (2022). Newspaper media framing of obesity during pregnancy in the UK: A review and framework synthesis. Obesity Reviews, 23(12), https://doi.org/10.1111/obr.13511
Journal Article Type | Article |
---|---|
Acceptance Date | Oct 5, 2022 |
Online Publication Date | Nov 10, 2022 |
Publication Date | 2022-12 |
Deposit Date | Jan 16, 2023 |
Publicly Available Date | Mar 28, 2023 |
Journal | Obesity Reviews |
Print ISSN | 1467-7881 |
Electronic ISSN | 1467-789X |
Publisher | Wiley |
Peer Reviewed | Peer Reviewed |
Volume | 23 |
Issue | 12 |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1111/obr.13511 |
Public URL | https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1182878 |
Files
Published Journal Article (Advance online version)
(5.9 Mb)
PDF
Publisher Licence URL
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Copyright Statement
Advance online version This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes.
You might also like
Examining body appreciation in six countries: The impact of age and sociocultural pressure
(2024)
Journal Article