From teen to adult: Weight stigma lingers

People with internalised weight stigma are at higher risk of developing eating disorders and poor mental health. — dpa

Feeling pressure to lose weight as a teenager may have “long-lasting effects” on how a person perceives themselves as an adult, according to a new study.

Adults who were bullied as a teen or those who felt pressure to lose weight from family or the media had the highest risk of “internalised weight stigma”, according to new findings from a long-term study.

Researchers said that women, people in sexual minorities and deprived adults were also at higher risk.

Internalised weight stigma is when people apply negative obesity-related stereotypes to themselves, such as thinking they are less attractive, less competent or less valuable as a person because of their weight, experts said.

People with internalised weight stigma are more likely to have disordered eating and poor mental health, they added.

Academics, led by a team from the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom, collected data over a 32-year period.

Their new study, published in the journal The Lancet Regional Health: Europe, found that feeling pressure from family to lose weight, weight-related teasing by family members and feeling pressure from the media to lose weight as a teenager, were all linked to higher levels of internalised weight stigma at age 31.

The analysis of over 4,000 people also found that being bullied in adolescence and in early adulthood were linked to weight stigma at age 31.

“The family environment in adolescence, bullying and pressure to lose weight from the media may have long-lasting impacts on how people value themselves based on their weight as adults,” said study corresponding author and Bristol Medical School Population Health Sciences Department research fellow Dr Amanda Hughes.

“We have an opportunity to reduce weight stigma and its consequences by changing how we discuss weight in the media, in public spaces and in families, and how we respond to bullying in schools, workplaces and other settings.

“This is crucial considering how common pressure to lose weight, and weight-related bullying, stigma and discrimination, are in many cultures around the world.”

Tom Quinn, director of external affairs at the UK eating disorder charity Beat, said: “We know that feelings of guilt and shame around weight, as well as facing pressure to lose weight, can be contributing factors in developing an eating disorder or exacerbating an existing one.

“The media can play a crucial role in this, and a major overhaul of the language used around weight and body size is desperately needed.

“There is a real lack of research around eating disorders, particularly with studies which focus on underrepresented communities.

“This vital research highlights the long-lasting and devastating effects of weight stigma which we see every day at Beat.” – PA Media/dpa