Rodríguez-Ojea MA, González FN, González AT

Language: Spanish
References: 25
Page: 71-79
PDF size: 369.15 Kb.

ABSTRACT

Objective: Prevalence of obesity has increased among Cuban urban schoolchildren in recent years. Obesity might become a cause for rejection of the schoolchild by their peers within the group where he/she is inserted. Material and method: A research was conducted to explore if schoolchildren from Havana city elementary schools stigmatized the obese from other possible phenotypes. Participating schoolchildren arranged 6 drawings of children of the same sex (which included healthy-looking children, obese ones, and other with different physical disabilities), according with their tastes and preferences. Once arranged, drawings in each serie were qualified by means of the Position Index: a reflection of the newly assigned rank. Obtained results were compared with those reported in the United States and New Zealand after completing studies similar in design. Results: Cuban schoolchildren stigmatized the obese child less than their US and New Zealand counterparts. The “healthylooking” child image received the highest average rank in the arranged serie of drawings, whereas the image of the child sitting in a wheelchair was qualified with the lowest rank. Eighty-eight percent of participant schoolchildren placed the “healthy-looking” child image among the top three positions of the serie, and the obese child drawing was included among the three last places in 70.9% of the instances. Conclusions: Stigmatization of the obesity by urban schoolchildren does not appear to be a relevant issue in Cuba. Obesity epidemic among schoolchildren calls for another different researches.

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