Fussy, Fad, and Frustrating?: Stigma Toward Picky Eaters and Popular Dieters by Peers

Individuals commonly tailor their diets for reasons such as weight loss, health promotion, taste preferences, religious purposes, and to accommodate food allergies. Many individuals who adopt dietary changes, however, report experiencing significant social consequences such as stigma. This study exp...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Stigma and health (Washington, D.C.) D.C.), 2023-11, Vol.8 (4), p.409-415
Main Authors: Jordan, Amy K., Dial, Lauren A., Barnhart, Wesley R., Studer-Perez, Emma I., Kamath, Sneha, Musher-Eizenman, Dara R.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Diets
Eating Behavior
Female
Food Preferences
Frustration
Human
Male
Peers
Stigma
Taste Perception
Test Construction
Citations: Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Individuals commonly tailor their diets for reasons such as weight loss, health promotion, taste preferences, religious purposes, and to accommodate food allergies. Many individuals who adopt dietary changes, however, report experiencing significant social consequences such as stigma. This study explored stigma against various diet types and how one's own dietary patterns influence stigma toward others' eating behaviors. Participants (N = 509) completed an online survey assessing their own dietary patterns and stigma toward others' dietary patterns. On average, participants reported the greatest stigma toward picky eaters and people who follow popular diets. Five mixed analyses of variance (ANOVAs) were conducted to understand differences in stigma toward eating styles held by those who endorsed that eating style and those that did not. Men reported significantly more stigma toward eating styles than women; thus, gender was entered as a covariate for each ANOVA. Compared to non-picky eaters, picky eaters reported significantly lower stigma toward picky eating but significantly higher stigma toward all other eating styles except popular diets. There were no other significant differences in stigma reported between those who did or did not adhere to a given eating style. Future research should utilize more diverse samples and evaluate stigma experienced both by and toward others.
ISSN:2376-6972
2376-6964
DOI:10.1037/sah0000322