Is Weight Bias in Young Children Related to Emerging Theory of Mind?

Background: Previous research has documented weight bias in some young children and suggested environmental influences. The present study focused on children’s own cognitive development. The aim was to test whether weight bias would differ according to children’s levels of theory of mind (ToM). Methods: One hundred and thirty-nine children (54% girls), aged four to six years, read a storybook that contained an assessment of ToM and required choices between story characters that differed in body weight. Children were also asked to give reasons for their choices. Children’s responses were coded by content and emotional valence. Results: Children showed significant weight bias against the character with obesity in pro- and anti-social story situations. A significantly greater proportion of children with high ToM showed weight bias, particularly in the pro-social scenario. Weight bias was evident in the reasons given for character choices with reference to character emotion being most common. There were no differences in these reasons by level of ToM. Conclusions: In contrast with what was hypothesised, it was those with a higher ToM who showed greater weight bias. Future research could examine whether children’s own exposure to weight bias influences this relationship and how this may change with age. Building understanding of how children’s own cognitive development interplays with the lived experience of societal weight bias will be important to those working in paediatric healthcare and education.