title: Cross-national perspectives about weight-based bullying in youth: nature, extent and remedies.
abstract: No cross-national studies have examined public perceptions about weight-based bullying in youth.
  
  
  
  To conduct a multinational examination of public views about (i) the prevalence/seriousness of weight-based bullying in youth; (ii) the role of parents, educators, health providers and government in addressing this problem and (iii) implementing policy actions to reduce weight-based bullying.
  
  
  
  A cross-sectional survey of adults in the United States, Canada, Iceland and Australia (N = 2866).
  
  
  
  Across all countries, weight-based bullying was identified as the most prevalent reason for youth bullying, by a substantial margin over other forms of bullying (race/ethnicity, sexual orientation and religion). Participants viewed parents and teachers as playing major roles in efforts to reduce weight-based bullying. Most participants across countries (77-94%) viewed healthcare providers to be important intervention agents. Participants (65-87%) supported government augmentation of anti-bullying laws to include prohibiting weight-based bullying. Women expressed higher agreement for policy actions than men, with no associations found for participants' race/ethnicity or weight. Causal beliefs about obesity were associated with policy support across countries.
  
  
  
  Across countries, strong recognition exists of weight-based bullying and the need to address it. These findings may inform policy-level actions and clinical practices concerning youth vulnerable to weight-based bullying.
authors.affiliation: Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity, University of Connecticut, Hartford, Connecticut, USA.
authors.forename: R M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Puhl
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Hawai'i at Manoa, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA.
authors.forename: J D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Latner
authors.affiliation: School of Social Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: O'Brien
authors.affiliation: Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity, University of Connecticut, Hartford, Connecticut, USA.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Luedicke
authors.affiliation: Department of Occupational Therapy, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Forhan
authors.affiliation: Division of Health Determinants, Directorate of Health, Reykjavik, Iceland.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Danielsdottir
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001290:Attitude; D001315:Australia; D001835:Body Weight; D058445:Bullying / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002170:Canada; D019548:Crime Victims / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007055:Iceland; D008297:Male; D009765:Obesity / Q000523:psychology*; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D015995:Prevalence; D014481:United States
keywords: Bullying; obesity; policy; weight