Weight stigma - the negative stereotypes, social devaluation and
pervasive mistreatment of heavier individuals - is strongly
implicated in disordered eating, the research team writes in the
Journal of Adolescent Health.
Previous studies have found that being teased about weight is
associated with binge eating and unhealthy weight control behaviors
in boys and increased dieting in girls. The current study is one of
the first to look at the long-term consequences of being labeled as
"too fat," the authors note.
"How we talk about weight - especially with young girls - can have
really negative effects on mental and physical health," said lead
author Jeffrey Hunger, a psychologist at the University of
California, Los Angeles.
"Labeling young girls as 'too fat' will never spur positive health
behaviors; it is simply going to result in poor body image,
unhealthy weight control practices, and disordered eating," he told
Reuters Health in an email.
There is a lot of research showing that weight stigma is related to
disordered eating, but not much of it follows people across time,
Hunger said.
"With this study, I was hoping to contribute to our understanding of
these longitudinal consequences by leveraging data from the NHLBI
(National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute) Growth and Health
Study."
Hunger and a colleague examined data on 2,036 girls participating in
that larger, long-term study. At age 14, the girls reported whether
they had been told they were "too fat" by their parents, siblings,
best girlfriends, boys they liked best, any other teens or their
teachers.
At ages 14 and 19, the girls completed a questionnaire designed to
assess unhealthy weight control behaviors, bulimic tendencies, drive
for thinness and body dissatisfaction. At both evaluations, girls
reported whether in the past 30 days they had engaged in unhealthy
behaviors such as not eating, vomiting, taking diet pills or using
laxatives; at age 19, they were also asked about smoking and
skipping meals as weight control methods.
Compared with girls who did not report having been labeled fat at
age 14, girls who were weight labeled at 14 had higher scores at age
19 on the eating disorders inventory, researchers found.
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This association held after the study team adjusted for other
possible influences, such as body mass index (BMI), race, parental
income and education, and a girl's level of disordered eating
behaviors at age 14.
The study also found that weight labeling by a family member was a
stronger predictor of later disordered eating than labeling by
nonfamily members.
"A somewhat surprising (yet frequently observed) finding is that the
effects of weight stigma emerged independent of actual body size,"
Hunger noted.
It seems that there is something profoundly powerful about the
social implications of being labeled "too fat" that is not limited
to heavier girls, he said.
"That being said, heavier girls do disproportionately shoulder the
burden of weight stigma, and stigma against heavier bodies is
pervasive and systemic, so we should take care not to equate this to
thinner girls' experiences of weight labeling," Hunger added.
First and foremost, if a parent suspects their child may have an
eating disorder, they should have the child assessed by a
specialist. Beyond that, parents can promote positive body image and
healthy eating behaviors in a variety of ways, he said.
"They can take weight out of the conversation altogether when they
are discussing health with their children. Our weight does not
dictate our health and most certainly does not dictate our worth."
Parents can also model body positivity and health behaviors for
their kids, Hunger suggested.
"Quit the negative 'fat talk,' chronic dieting, and body shame.
Recognize and appreciate all that your body can do for you and find
eating and exercise habits that are sustainable and enjoyable," he
said.
SOURCE: https://bit.ly/2jI5Gzb Journal of Adolescent Health, online
April 25, 2018.
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