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Weight-related teasing tied to psychosomatic symptoms in adolescents
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Adolescents who experience weight-related teasing have higher psychosomatic symptom z scores compared with participants who do not experience weight-related teasing, study findings show.
The frequency of weight-related teasing also seems to increase with increasing weight, according to the researchers.
Ian Janssen, PhD, professor and Canada research chair in physical activity and obesity at Queen’s University in Canada, and colleagues evaluated data from the 2013-2014 HBSC survey on 20,277 adolescents (mean age, 14.2 years; 50.2% girls) to determine whether weight status moderates the relationship between weight-related teasing and psychosomatic symptoms.
Overall, 12.9% of participants reported experiencing weight-related teasing at least once in the past few months; frequency of weight-related teasing increased with increasing BMI (P < .001). The rate of participants reporting weight-related teasing multiple times per week was 1.5% among those with normal weight, 2.5% among those with overweight and 7% among those with obesity. Girls with reported experiencing weight-related teasing several times a week more often than boys with obesity (9.6% vs. 5.6%).
The frequency of weight-related teasing and psychosomatic symptoms revealed a gradient relationship (P for trend < .001). Participants who reported weight-related teasing had significantly higher psychosomatic symptom z scores compared with participants who did not report teasing.
“Youth who are weight-teased experienced more psychosomatic symptoms, independent of BMI category,” the researchers wrote. “However, BMI category did not moderate the association between [weight-related teasing] and psychosomatic symptoms. Future research on [weight-related teasing] and mental health should consider employing a longitudinal study design and consider assessing whether [weight-related teasing] mediates the link between BMI and mental health.” – by Amber Cox
Disclosure: Janssen reports no relevant financial disclosures.
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