Weight Labeling and Disordered Eating Among Adolescent Girls: Longitudinal Evidence From the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Growth and Health Study

Abstract

PurposeWeight stigma is implicated in disordered eating, but much of this research focuses on forms of stigma such as weight-based teasing. MethodsIn a large cohort of adolescent girls (N = 2,036), we tested the hypothesis that being labeled as “too fat” by others predicts subsequent greater disordered eating cognitions and behaviors. ResultsCompared with girls who did not report weight labeling, girls who were labeled at age 14 showed an increase in unhealthy weight control behaviors and disordered eating cognitions over the subsequent 5 years. These effects were independent of objective body mass index, race, parental income and education, and initial levels of disordered eating. ConclusionsExploratory analyses suggest that weight labeling from family members is more strongly associated with disordered eating than labeling from nonfamily members. This study highlights how the long-term consequences of weight stigma can potentially begin when one is labeled as “too fat.”