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Description
Obesity has become a major area of research in many fields due to the increasing obesity rate not only in The United States, but also around the world. Research concerning obesity stigma has both physical and mental health implications. Weight bias and obesity stigma represent important research areas for health professionals as they confront these issues on a daily basis in interactions with their patients. To explore how gender, ethnicity, and a person's own BMI affect the stigma of certain weight related terms, a set of 264 participant's surveys on weight related situations on the campus of Arizona State University were analyzed. Using univariate analysis to determine frequency of words deemed most or least acceptable as well as independent t-test for gender and ANOVA for ethnicity and own BMI, we found that participant's view more clinical terms such as "unhealthy BMI" and "BMI" as acceptable words for use during a physician-patient interaction. Analysis across genders revealed the highest number of differences in terms, with females generally ranking terms across the board as less acceptable then men. Differences varied little between ethnicities; however, own BMI revealed more differences between terms; underweight participants did not rank any terms as positive. We analyzed average ATOP (Attitudes Toward Obese People) scores and found that there was no significant difference in average ATOP scores between gender and a participant's own BMI, but a statistical significance did exist between ethnic categories. This study showed that the term "obese/obesity", although normally considered to be a clinical term by many was not ranked as very positive across gender, ethnicity, or own BMI. Based on these findings, new material should be created to inform physicians on how to talk about weight related problems with certain populations of patients.
ContributorsBlasco, Drew Adair (Author) / Wutich, Amber (Thesis director) / Brewis Slade, Alexandra (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / School of Human Evolution and Social Change (Contributor)
Created2014-12
Description
Background: Latinos represent 40.8% of the population in Phoenix (U.S. Census Bureau Population Division, 2010). South Phoenix, also known as the South Mountain Village, defined in geographical terms as area zip codes 85040 and 85042; is a predominantly Latino community comprised of mixed citizenship status households. During the 2010 United States Census 60.3% of the population in South Phoenix identified as Latino, 25.75% of the total population was foreign born. Of the foreign born population, 88.95% were of Latin American origin (United States Census Bureau, 2007-2011 American Community Survey). Understanding how Latino immigrants perceive differences in health between their communities in country of origin and communities in the United States is largely unknown. Irrespective of political positions, understanding how Latino immigrants perceive personal health and the health of their communities is of interest to inform public policy and implement needed interventions in the
public health sphere.
Methods: Semi-structured interviews were collected from 55 adults from the South Phoenix community between November 2009 and September 2010. Interviews were digitally recorded with participant permission and transcribed. Of those collected, 48 transcribed interviews were analyzed using a codebook designed by the researcher. Percent agreement evaluated inter-rater reliability.Results: Latino immigrants in South Phoenix largely agree that health quality is heavily dependent on personal responsibility and not an intrinsic attribute of a given place. Emotional contentedness and distress, both factors of mental health, are impacted by cross-cultural differences between Latino and U.S. culture systems.
Conclusions: As people’s personal perceptions of differences in health are complex concepts influenced by personal backgrounds, culture, and beliefs, attempting to demark a side of the border as ‘healthier’ than the other using personal perceptions is overly simplified and misses central concepts. Instead, exploration of individual variables impacting health allowed this study to gain a more nuanced understanding in how people determine quality of both personal and environmental health. While Latino migrants in South Phoenix largely agree that health is based on personal responsibility and choices, many nonetheless experience higher levels of contentedness and emotional health in their country of origin.
public health sphere.
Methods: Semi-structured interviews were collected from 55 adults from the South Phoenix community between November 2009 and September 2010. Interviews were digitally recorded with participant permission and transcribed. Of those collected, 48 transcribed interviews were analyzed using a codebook designed by the researcher. Percent agreement evaluated inter-rater reliability.Results: Latino immigrants in South Phoenix largely agree that health quality is heavily dependent on personal responsibility and not an intrinsic attribute of a given place. Emotional contentedness and distress, both factors of mental health, are impacted by cross-cultural differences between Latino and U.S. culture systems.
Conclusions: As people’s personal perceptions of differences in health are complex concepts influenced by personal backgrounds, culture, and beliefs, attempting to demark a side of the border as ‘healthier’ than the other using personal perceptions is overly simplified and misses central concepts. Instead, exploration of individual variables impacting health allowed this study to gain a more nuanced understanding in how people determine quality of both personal and environmental health. While Latino migrants in South Phoenix largely agree that health is based on personal responsibility and choices, many nonetheless experience higher levels of contentedness and emotional health in their country of origin.
ContributorsGray, Laurel (Author) / Wutich, Amber (Thesis director) / Quiroga, S. Seline (Committee member) / Nelson, Margaret (Committee member) / Slade, B. Alexandra (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (Contributor)
Created2013-05
Description
U.S. border colonias, otherwise known as Disadvantaged Unincorporated Communities, are rural settlements along the U.S. Mexico border with substandard housing conditions. Colonia residents often face inadequate access to necessities such as appropriate shelter, septic and sewer systems, and potable water. Water insecurity in colonias poses a particularly difficult challenge for residents who require clean water not only for consumption, but also household use in sanitation and hygienic practices. As of 2015, an estimated 30% of over five million US colonia residents lack access to clean drinking water, resulting in health complications and unsanitary living conditions. Preliminary health data collected indicates that due to water insecurity, colonia residents are more likely to contract gastrointestinal disease, be exposed to carcinogenic compounds from contaminated water, and experience psychosocial distress. Yet more comprehensive research needs to be conducted to understand the full breadth of the public health issue. A scoping review on water insecurity in colonias has not been completed before and could be beneficial in informing policymakers and other stakeholders on the severity of the situation while advising possible solutions.
ContributorsZheng, Madeleine (Author) / Wutich, Amber (Thesis director) / Brewis, Alexandra (Committee member) / Kavouras, Stavros (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Molecular Sciences (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor)
Created2021-12
Description
Introduction: Often it is presumed that in high-income countries, like the United States, water insecurity is not an issue. Yet, more than 2 million individuals in the United States are affected by water insecurity. Experiencing the effects of water insecurity are informal settlements and impoverished communities termed as “colonias”, characterized by the lack of possessing basic infrastructures and services, including water systems and wastewater disposal amongst many. Purpose: To critically analyze how water insecurity manifests in the colonias and the impacts it has on the health and well-being of the community members.
Methods: An extensive systematic literature review was conducted in the effort to bring a meaningful framework of existing challenges and potential resolutions and theorize water insecurity in colonias.
Results: The effects of water insecurity due to water scarcity and water contamination in the colonias led to health complications, unsanitary living conditions and mental distress for residents. The causes of water insecurity in the colonias were because of political exclusion, municipal underbounding and the failure to monitor water quality.
Conclusion: The dire consequences of household water insecurity to an individual, no less an entire population, are detrimental to health and well-being. Despite this acknowledgement of a critical and basic human necessity, literature reveals a robust water governance infrastructure is much needed for the people in colonias. For meaningful progress and developments to be made in addressing water insecurity for the people of colonias, this review was approached through a transdisciplinary lens - one that achieves convergence.
ContributorsPatwoary, Nargish (Author) / Wutich, Amber (Thesis advisor) / Sabo, John (Thesis advisor) / Roque, Anais (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2021
Description
Over the last four centuries, Black women have been overwhelmingly understood, imagined, and defined through a Eurocentric and oppressive lens. The Eurocentric or white lens places pseudo-characteristics on Black women that inaccurately describe them. The qualities ascribed to Black women are rooted in racial ideologies that benefit and progress the interest of White supremacy. This history has placed Black women in tension with institutionalized medicine, discouraging them from seeking or using healthcare resources. Without trust in a system positioned to heal, treat, and prevent health ailments, Black women cannot dialogue with those that are a part of that system. Paulo Freire argues that "dialogue is the encounter between men, mediated by the world, in order to name the world (Freire, 2000, p. 90)." By centering Black women and their voices, I envision (re)naming the world. Understanding how Black women from Lincoln County, Mississippi describe their health and bodies sheds light on their daily experiences that facilitate self-care, womanhood, and identity. This dissertation covers three related studies that are addressing: 1) how Black women from Mississippi see their bodies outside of deficit health, 2) how Black women’s sisterhood has been a collective effort to build womanhood and health, and how societal stereotypes can interfere or damage the progress of sisterhood, and 3) the importance of allowing for Black women’s ways of knowing to create liberatory data collection methods that represent who they are and their truth. I examine these dynamics using a mixed-methods approach including community-based participatory research and rapid ethnographic assessment sampling techniques (e.g., working with a community advisor), semi-structured interviews, Sister-girl Talks (focus groups), participant observation, and autoethnography. The results of the three-study mixed methods dissertation has both theoretical and practical implications for understanding the vital role that Black women need to play bring healing to their health in both healthcare settings (e.g., clinics) and healthcare planning (health evaluation programs and interventions.
ContributorsMitchell, Charlayne (Author) / Slade, Alexandra (Thesis advisor) / SturtzSreetharan, Cindi (Thesis advisor) / Davis, Olga I (Committee member) / Ore, Ersula J (Committee member) / Wutich, Amber (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2021