The WOMBS Framework: A review and new theoretical model for investigating pregnancy-related weight stigma and its intergenerational implications.
Angela C Incollingo RodriguezTaniya S NagpalPublished in: Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity (2021)
As the growing weight stigma literature has developed, one critically relevant and vulnerable population has received little consideration-pregnant and postpartum women. Because weight fluctuations are inherent to this life phase, and rates of prepregnancy overweight and obesity are already high, this gap is problematic. More recently, however, there has been a rising interest in pregnancy-related weight stigma and its consequences. This paper therefore sought to (a) review the emerging research on pregnancy-related weight stigma phenomenology and (b) integrate this existing evidence to present a novel theoretical framework for studying pregnancy-related weight stigma. The Weight gain, Obesity, Maternal-child Biobehavioral pathways, and Stigma (WOMBS) Framework proposes psychophysiological mechanisms linking pregnancy-related weight stigmatization to increased risk of weight gain and, in turn, downstream childhood obesity risk. This WOMBS Framework highlights pregnant and postpartum women as a theoretically unique at-risk population for whom this social stigma engages maternal physiology and transfers obesity risk to the child via social and physiological mechanisms. The WOMBS Framework provides a novel and useful tool to guide the emerging pregnancy-related weight stigma research and, ultimately, support stigma-reduction efforts in this critical context.
Keyphrases
- weight gain
- mental health
- birth weight
- body mass index
- weight loss
- pregnancy outcomes
- mental illness
- hiv aids
- social support
- preterm birth
- physical activity
- systematic review
- pregnant women
- healthcare
- metabolic syndrome
- polycystic ovary syndrome
- body weight
- type diabetes
- depressive symptoms
- adipose tissue
- drug induced
- quantum dots