title: Policy Actions to Address Weight-Based Bullying and Eating Disorders in Schools: Views of Teachers and School Administrators.
abstract: Weight-related bullying is prevalent among youth and associated with adverse health consequences, including increased risk for body dissatisfaction and disordered eating behaviors, which are risk factors for eating disorders. Although concerns about these problems have stimulated calls for broader intervention efforts in schools, actions thus far have been limited. This study examined educators' perspectives about potential policy actions to address these issues in schools.
  
  
  
  Educators (N = 240) completed an online questionnaire assessing their support for 11 potential school-based policy actions to address weight-related bullying and eating disorders. Participants also rated policies according to their feasibility and potential for positive impact.
  
  
  
  Forty-eight percent of participants observed weight-related bullying in their school and 99% expressed the importance of intervening in such incidents. A large majority (75%-94%) supported 8 of the 11 policies, especially actions requiring school-based health curriculum to include content on eating disorder prevention (94%), and addressing weight-bullying through antibullying policies (92%), staff training (89%), and school curriculum (89%). Strongly supported policies were viewed by participants as being the most impactful and feasible to implement.
  
  
  
  Educators recognize weight-related bullying and eating disorders as problems in their schools that warrant improved prevention and intervention efforts at the policy level.
authors.affiliation: University of Connecticut, One Constitution Plaza, Suite 600, Hartford, CT 06103. Rebecca.puhl@uconn.edu.
authors.forename: Rebecca M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Puhl
authors.affiliation: Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, 1300 South Second Street, Suite 300, Minneapolis, MN 55454. neumark@epi.umn.edu.
authors.forename: Dianne
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Neumark-Sztainer
authors.affiliation: Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Harvard School of Public Health, 333 Longwood Avenue, 6th Floor, Division of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115. bryn.austin@childrens.harvard.edu.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bryn Austin
authors.affiliation: Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity, University of Connecticut, One Constitution Plaza, Suite 600, Hartford, CT 06103. Young.suh@uconn.edu.
authors.forename: Young
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Suh
authors.affiliation: Center for Public Health & Health Policy, University of Connecticut, 195 Farmington Avenue, Suite 2100, Farmington, CT 06032. dwakefield@uchc.edu.
authors.forename: Dorothy B
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Wakefield
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001835:Body Weight; D058445:Bullying; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D057766:Policy; D000070777:School Teachers / Q000523:psychology*; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors
keywords: bullying; eating disorders; policy; weight