Social Stigma of Overweight and Obesity in Elementary School Children: a Systematic Review

Introduction. The World Health Organization established in 2016 that there are more than 43 million overweight and obese children in the world, being one of the most serious public health problems, which affects the physical health of children and brings psychosocial consequences such as social stigma in the school and its social environment. Objective. Conduct a systematic review of social stigma in overweight and obese children in primary education to design appropriate interventions and prevention programs. Materials and methods. Systematic review in the PubMed/Medline, ERIC and Google Scholar databases. Results. Of 1709 scientific articles, 407 were reviewed in full text and 39 were included when meeting the inclusion/exclusion criteria. There are significant differences between boys and girls; social stigmatization affects girls more, due to the internalization of beauty and body image canons based on thinness. An association was found between academic performance and bullying, self-stigma, and social stigma. Conclusion. Overweight/obese children are more likely to be stigmatized, to be bullied physically rather than relationally, and to be bullied and victimized by their normal weight peers. The acquired stigma derives from a socioculturally penalized image that has consequences on the psychological development of children who are forming their personality and values. It is necessary to propose specific preventive interventions in the school environment to face the consequences of social stigma and improve the development of body image.