Do health beliefs and behaviors differ according to severity of obesity? A qualitative study of Australian adults Lewis, Sophie, Thomas, Samantha L., Blood, R. Warwick, Hyde, Jim, Castle, David J. and Komesaroff, Paul A. 2010, Do health beliefs and behaviors differ according to severity of obesity? A qualitative study of Australian adults, International journal of environmental research and public health, vol. 7, no. 2, Special issue : Health behaviour and public health, pp. 443-459, doi: 10.3390/ijerph7020443. Attached Files Name Description MIMEType Size Downloads hyde-dohealth-2010.pdf Published version application/pdf 249.72KB 139 Title Do health beliefs and behaviors differ according to severity of obesity? A qualitative study of Australian adults Author(s) Lewis, Sophie Thomas, Samantha L. Blood, R. Warwick Hyde, Jim Castle, David J. Komesaroff, Paul A. Journal name International journal of environmental research and public health Volume number 7 Issue number 2 Season Special issue : Health behaviour and public health Start page 443 End page 459 Total pages 17 Publisher M D P I AG Place of publication Basel, Switzerland Publication date 2010-02 ISSN 1660-4601 1661-7827 Keyword(s) obesity health beliefs health behaviors stigma public health qualitative research consumer perspectives Summary Public responses to obesity have focused on providing standardized messages and supports to all obese individuals, but there is limited understanding of the impact of these messages on obese adults. This descriptive qualitative study using in-depth interviews and a thematic method of analysis, compares the health beliefs and behaviors of 141 Australian adults with mild to moderate (BMI 30−39.9) and severe (BMI ≥ 40) obesity. Mildly obese individuals felt little need to change their health behaviors or to lose weight for health reasons. Most believed they could “lose weight” if they needed to, distanced themselves from the word obesity, and stigmatized those “fatter” than themselves. Severely obese individuals felt an urgent need to change their health behaviors, but felt powerless to do so. They blamed themselves for their weight, used stereotypical language to describe their health behaviors, and described being “at war” with their bodies. Further research, particularly about the role of stigma and stereotyping, is needed to fully understand the impact of obesity messaging on the health beliefs, behaviors, and wellbeing of obese and severely obese adults. Notes Reproduced under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ Published material can be re-used without obtaining permission as long as a correct citation to the original publication is given. http://www.mdpi.com/about/openaccess Language eng DOI 10.3390/ijerph7020443 Field of Research 119999 Medical and Health Sciences not elsewhere classified Socio Economic Objective 970111 Expanding Knowledge in the Medical and Health Sciences HERDC Research category C1.1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal Copyright notice ©2010, The Authors Free to Read? Yes Use Rights Persistent URL http://hdl.handle.net/10536/DRO/DU:30046426 Document type: Journal Article Collections: Population Health Open Access Collection Related Links Link Description Connect to published version Go to link with your DU access privileges     Unless expressly stated otherwise, the copyright for items in DRO is owned by the author, with all rights reserved. Every reasonable effort has been made to ensure that permission has been obtained for items included in DRO. If you believe that your rights have been infringed by this repository, please contact drosupport@deakin.edu.au. Versions Version Filter Type Tue, 31 Jul 2012, 10:02:04 EST Thu, 16 Aug 2012, 13:23:17 EST Thu, 16 Aug 2012, 13:26:13 EST Thu, 16 Aug 2012, 13:27:25 EST Fri, 09 May 2014, 14:10:54 EST Fri, 13 Jun 2014, 14:31:27 EST Wed, 18 Nov 2015, 08:44:53 EST Mon, 15 Feb 2016, 13:10:21 EST Fri, 26 Aug 2016, 14:51:11 EST Mon, 05 Sep 2016, 15:36:18 EST Filtered Full Citation counts:   Cited 15 times in TR Web of Science Cited 15 times in Scopus Search Google Scholar Access Statistics: 180 Abstract Views, 139 File Downloads  -  Detailed Statistics Created: Tue, 31 Jul 2012, 10:02:04 EST

Every reasonable effort has been made to ensure that permission has been obtained for items included in DRO. If you believe that your rights have been infringed by this repository, please contact drosupport@deakin.edu.au.