Abstract 12419: Internalized Weight Stigma Linked to Greater Visceral Adiposity for Women, but Not Men

Abstract

Introduction: As visceral adipose tissue (VAT) is an important predictor of CVD risk, it is necessary to understand psychosocial factors possibly related to VAT accrual. Weight stigma is a chronic stressor which particularly impacts women and is associated with increased cortisol secretion. Given that chronically elevated cortisol is linked to VAT increase, weight stigma may lead to accumulation of visceral fat. This study investigated relationships between internalized weight stigma (IWS), VAT, and gender. Hypothesis: We hypothesized that IWS would be positively associated with VAT, and that this relationship would be moderated by gender. We predicted that the relationship between IWS and VAT would be stronger for women than for men. Methods: Participants ( N =70, 81% white, 53% women, M age =30.4±7.8 years, M BMI =28.7±5.5 kg/m 2 , M BF% =32.4±8.9%) completed in-lab measures of demographic factors (age, gender, race/ethnicity), IWS (Weight Bias Internalization Scale-Modified; WBIS-M) and visceral adiposity. VAT mass (g) was measured via DXA scan (Hologic Horizon A DXA system). Primary moderation analysis investigated the effect of gender on associations between IWS and VAT mass. Covariates were age, race/ethnicity, and total BF%. Results: Participants represented a broad range of total BF% (15-48%) and BMI (19.6-45.2 kg/m 2 ). Women displayed greater WBIS-M scores ( M =3.5, SE =0.2) than men ( M =2.7, SE =0.2; p <.01). Differences between VAT mass (g) for women ( M =429.4, SE =39.7) and men ( M =480.1, SE =30.5) were non-significant ( p =.32). After adjusting for covariates in the primary moderation analysis, WBIS-M scores displayed a positive association with VAT mass ( b =31.5, p =.03). The relationship between WBIS-M scores and VAT mass was moderated by gender ( b =74.7, p =.01); no relationship between WBIS-M scores and VAT mass was observed in men ( b =-8.0, p =.68), whereas a positive association between WBIS-M scores and VAT mass was observed in women ( b =66.7, p <.01). Conclusions: Internalization of weight stigma was associated with greater visceral adiposity in women across the BMI spectrum, implicating it as a chronic stressor. Future studies should investigate directionality and causality of this relationship to mitigate stigma-associated CVD risk.