Teaching Sizeism: Integrating Size into Multicultural Education and Clinical Training

Abstract

Multicultural education, training, and practice have traditionally focused primarily on race/ethnicity with gradual inclusion of gender, sexual orientation, social class, and age. Issues of size, which intersects with racism, sexism, and classism, have been notably absent from diversity discussions. Psychologists have typically framed size issues around obesity and adopted a medicalized, individualized perspective that belies data that show traditional approaches to weight management, such as dieting and exercise, are largely ineffective and non-maintainable. Here, we offer a rationale for including body size as an issue relevant to a multicultural curriculum. Strategies for training psychologists and therapists are delineated.     

Psychosocial and health consequences of adolescent depression in Black and White young adult women.

Depression in adolescent girls may result in negative consequences in young adulthood. The Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) was administered to 1,727 Black and White girls ages 16 to 18 years who participated in the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute's Growth and Health Study. Three years later, women in the depressed groups were more likely to be current smokers, had attained a lower level of education, and reported lower self-worth relative to the nondepressed group. Body dissatisfaction, eating concerns, and loneliness were greater in the depressed groups. Relative to Black women, White women who were moderately depressed during adolescence reported more health care services utilization in young adulthood. Prevention efforts for depressed adolescents should be broadly focused to improve young adult outcomes.