How do trainee physical educators conceptualize the appearance of “health”, and how might their conceptualizations influence their teaching approaches? A qualitative exploration through the lens of weight bias

Current understandings of bodies and health are predominantly informed by a weight normative viewpoint that supports the supremacy of an idealized body type as reflecting optimal health and wellbeing. Studies have shown that physical educators hold negative assumptions about, and lower expectations of the abilities of higher weight students. However, how trainee physical educators’ conceptualizations about the health of bodies might influence their approach to teaching children of different body sizes has not been directly explored. While previous researchers have focused on physical educators’ constructions of fatness and the influence of visual culture on beliefs and stereotypes about bodies and physical activity, we explored how trainee physical educators conceptualize the health of bodies based on appearance, and how that might influence how they would approach teaching children of different body sizes. Seven trainee physical educators took part in this photo elicitation and interview study. Using a constructionist, critical orientation of reflexive thematic analysis, three key themes were developed: you can tell by looking; social experiences reproduce and reinforce weight normativity; and, weight normativity hinders weight inclusivity. These three themes conveyed the overarching thematic narrative that conceptualizations of bodies are both simplistic and complex. Our study shows that if physical educators are to positively influence how children of all sizes perceive their bodies, there is a need to establish a unifying definition of weight-inclusive practices in physical education, to support approaches to reducing weight bias in schools.