Weight-based stigma/discrimination and disordered eating: exploring the mechanisms in obese adults and normal-weight undergraduates

Individuals who experience stigma/discrimination on the basis of their weight are at an elevated risk for disordered eating; however, the specific associations between various facets of weight-based stigma/discrimination with disordered eating and the mechanisms underlying this association remain unclear. To address this conundrum, the current study examined the relations between three components of weight-based stigma/discrimination with binge/emotional eating, as well as potential psychological distress mechanisms of these relations, in obese female bariatric surgery-seeking patients and predominately normal-weight female undergraduate students. Results revealed that individuals who reported concerns regarding experiencing weight-based stigma, perceived that they have been discriminated against on the basis of their weight, and/or internalized anti-fat attitudes were at an elevated risk for binge eating across both samples. Body shape concerns emerged as the most relevant explanatory mechanism in the relation between weight-based stigma/discrimination and disordered eating across both samples.