126 How Weight Stigma Affects Weight-Related Health in Adolescents and Young Adults: Public Health Research with Implications for Translation into Clinical Practice

Abstract

OBJECTIVES/GOALS: Weight stigma, or discrimination and devaluation of people due to high body weight, is associated with higher prevalence of concerning health consequences (e.g., depressive symptoms, body dissatisfaction). This public health research investigated how experiencing weight stigma affects weight-related health outcomes in a cohort of young people. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: 1,534 Project EAT 2010-2018 participants were surveyed as adolescents (mean age=14.4 years) and eight years later as young adults (mean age=22.2 years). Participants were asked how often they were teased about their weight. Outcomes included body mass index (BMI), nutrition habits (intake of breakfast, fruit, vegetables, sugar-sweetened beverages, fast-food), sedentary/activity behaviors (moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, screen time, sleep duration), and disordered eating behaviors (unhealthy weight control behaviors, extreme weight control behaviors, dieting, chronic dieting, overeating, binge eating). Regression models were adjusted for BMI, sociodemographic characteristics, and, in longitudinal models, the outcome assessed at baseline. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: Experiencing weight stigma was cross-sectionally significantly associated with higher BMI, shorter sleep duration, and higher prevalence of all six disordered eating behaviors during both adolescence and young adulthood. It was also significantly associated with longer screen time in adolescence, and with lower breakfast frequency, higher intake of sugar-sweetened beverages, and higher intake of fast-food during young adulthood. Weight stigma in adolescence significantly predicted higher BMI and higher prevalence of overeating and dieting in young adulthood. For example, adolescents who were teased about their weight had a higher mean BMI (28.2 kg/m2 [95% confidence interval: 27.8-28.7]) in young adulthood compared to those who had not been teased (26.4 kg/m2 [95% confidence interval: 26.1-26.8]). DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE: Findings add to the growing body of evidence that weight stigma may pose a threat to weight-related health. Because many clinicians are unaware of this evidence and healthcare settings are common sources of weight stigma, next steps include writing a research proposal that aims to decrease weight stigma conveyed to patients in clinical practice.