Daly, Michael and Robinson, Eric and Sutin, Angelina R. (2017) Does Knowing Hurt? Perceiving Oneself as Overweight Predicts Future Physical Health and Well-Being. Psychological Science, 28 (7). pp. 872-881. ISSN 0956-7976

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Abstract

Identifying oneself as being overweight may be associated with adverse health outcomes, yet prospective tests of this possibility are lacking. Over 7 years, we examined associations between perceptions of being overweight and subsequent health in a sample of 3,582 U.S. adults. Perceiving oneself as being overweight predicted longitudinal declines in subjective health (d = −0.22, p < .001), increases in depressive symptoms (d = 0.09, p < .05), and raised levels of physiological dysregulation (d = 0.24, p < .001), as gauged by clinical indicators of cardiovascular, inflammatory, and metabolic functioning. These associations remained after controlling for a range of potential confounders and were observed irrespective of whether perceptions of being overweight were accurate or inaccurate. This research highlights the possibility that identifying oneself as overweight may act independently of body mass index to contribute to unhealthy profiles of physiological functioning and impaired health over time. These findings underscore the importance of evaluating whether weight-feedback interventions may have unforeseen adverse consequences.

Item Type:	Article
Keywords:	obesity; body image; weight stigma; health; well-being; open data; open materials;
Academic Unit:	Faculty of Science and Engineering > Psychology
Item ID:	15567
Identification Number:	https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797617696311
Depositing User:	Michael Daly
Date Deposited:	24 Feb 2022 14:13
Journal or Publication Title:	Psychological Science
Publisher:	SAGE Publications
Refereed:	Yes
URI:	Publisher
Use Licence:	This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available here

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