Relation between weight stigma and emotional eating: an approach from structural equation modeling

Abstract

Introduction: dietary intake has been shown to be one of the main factors influencing weight gain, and weight stigma contributes to increased emotional eating. However, the factors that mediate this relationship have been less studied. Objective: the aim of this study was to identify the relationship between weight stigma and emotional eating, and whether this relationship is mediated by internalizing weight bias and psychological distress. Methods: a non-probabilistic sample of 332 people from the general population (192 women and 140 men) answered self-report psychological instruments and provided anthropometric measurements. Results: through structural equation analysis (SEM), direct relationships were identified, among which the relationship between weight stigma and emotional eating stands out (β = 0.422, p < 0.001), in addition to the indirect relationship between these variables mediated by internalized weight bias and psychological distress (βindirect = 0.016, p = < 0.05). The model had good indicators of goodness of fit and explained 85 % of the variance. Conclusion: the results show the importance of including psychological and behavioral variables in the treatment of emotional eating in people with overweight and obesity, as well as addressing these issues from public policies to reduce the associated stigma that still prevails in society.