Understanding weight gain in female prisoners
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Understanding weight gain in female prisoners
IRAS ID
289174
Contact name
Kate Leech
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Staffordshire University
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 0 days
Research summary
Previous evidence shows that women in prison tend to gain weight during their custodial sentence. This research will investigate female prisoners' perceptions of why female prisoners gain weight in prison.
The research will involve semi structured interviews with 6-10 female prisoners in one UK prison to explore their views and opinions on why women gain weight in prison. All the participants will be self-identified as having gained weight at some point during their sentence in prison. They will be recruited through posters put up around the prison and asked to contact the researcher if they are interested.
The main objectives of the research are:
• To understand the opinions and experiences of weight gain in female prisoners in the UK
• To explore different factors that female prisoners consider influence weight gain and loss in the UK prison system
• To explore ways in which female prisoners consider a healthy weight could be maintained in prison
• To explore the perceived reasons for the gender difference in weight gain in prison
REC name
East of England - Essex Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
20/EE/0278
Date of REC Opinion
10 Mar 2021
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion