Changes in the Prevalence and Correlates of Weight-Control Behaviors and Weight Perception in Adolescents in the UK, 1986-2015

Solmi, Francesca; Sharpe, Helen; Gage, Suzanne H.; Maddock, Jane; Lewis, Glyn; Patalay, Praveetha

doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2020.4746

Cited by 44 publications

(49 citation statements)

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“…These findings suggest that the implications of being overweight, and believing oneself to be overweight, are more severe now than they were previously, and this might be attributed to an increasing focus on appearance and perceived pressures on young people to look a certain way (25), although we cannot test this in our data. This hypothesis is supported by other work we have conducted, where we found that the proportion of adolescents are more likely to over-estimate their weight in 2015 compared to 1986 and 2005, and weight perception was more strongly associated with depressive symptoms in 2015 (26). Similarly, we observed a change between cohorts in the likelihood of antisocial behaviour and substance use in relation to depressive symptoms.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

Associations between adolescent mental health and health-related behaviours in 2005 and 2015: A population cross-cohort study

Gage

Patalay

2020

Preprint

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Background: Poor adolescent mental health is a growing concern over recent decades with evidence of increasing internalising mental health problems corresponding with decrease in anti-social, smoking and alcohol behaviours. However, understanding whether and how the associations between mental health and health-related behaviours such as substance use, anti-social behaviour and obesity have changed over time is less well-understood. Objectives: We investigate whether the associations between different health-related outcomes in adolescence are stable or changing over time in two recent cohorts of adolescents born ten years apart. Method: Data from two UK birth cohort studies, the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC, born 1991-92, N=5627, 50.7% female) and Millennium Cohort Study (MCS, born 2000-1, N=11318, 50.6% female) at age 14 sweeps are used. The health outcomes of focus are depressive symptom score, substance use (alcohol, smoking, cannabis and other drugs), antisocial behaviours (assault, graffiti, vandalism, shoplifting and rowdy behaviour), weight (BMI), weight perception (perceive self as overweight) and sexual activity (had sexual intercourse). Results: Our results suggest although directions of associations between mental-health and health-related behaviours (eg smoking) are similar over time, their strength across the distribution has changed. While smoking and alcohol use behaviours are decreasing in adolescents, those that endorse these behaviours in 2015 are more likely to have co-occurring mental-health and other problems than those born in 2005. Similarly, higher body mass index is more strongly associated with depressive symptoms in 2015. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that associations between these factors has changed over time, which has implications for public health and our understanding of the mechanisms underlying their observed associations in the population.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

Associations between adolescent mental health and health-related behaviours in 2005 and 2015: A population cross-cohort study

Gage

Patalay

2020

Preprint

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“…Distorted BWP involving overestimation appears more common in women than in men ( Park et al, 2019 ). Previous studies reported women who overestimated their weight as 28.40% among Korean women ( Kim et al, 2018 ), 21% among Chinese women ( Niu et al, 2014 ), 23.50% among American women ( Gaylis et al, 2020 ), and 23.80% among European women ( Solmi et al, 2020 ); in all cases, the proportion of women overestimating their weight was higher than that of men. This trend reflected that women were more affected by the value of being thin, considering it as the ideal body image in the media ( Hartman-Munick et al, 2020 ).…”

mentioning

confidence: 83%

Mental health of people with distorted body weight perception using medicinal remedies: A representative study

Kim

Kim³

et al. 2021

International Journal of Clinical and Health Psychology

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Background/Objective We aimed to examine the prevalence of distorted body weight perception (BWP) and the choice of weight control strategies to investigate the associations between the psychological features and the different strategies for controlling body weight. Method: We used a representative nationwide 39-item survey to randomly select 1,000 participants. The extrapolated number (eN) to the whole national population was also reported. Self-BWP, weight control strategies, and obesity-related psychological conditions including anxiety, self-esteem, body satisfaction, obesity-related quality-of-life (QoL), and eating attitudes were assessed. Results: Among men, 39.30% (eN = 5,887,137) underestimated, whereas 24.90% (eN = 3,290,847) of women overestimated their weight. In contrast to 2% (eN = 271,745) of men, 15.20% (eN = 2,012,262) of women sought medical support to control their weight. Men and women who used medical support for weight management and women who overestimated their weight reported the most unfavorable psychological conditions (anxiety, self-esteem, body satisfaction, QoL, and eating attitudes; p < .05). Conclusions: A prevalent burden of psychological problems related to distorted BWP and weight control strategies was revealed. People with distorted BWP and using medical procedures for their weight control could be at a higher risk of psychological disorders. Therefore, body weight-related psychological problems call for urgent public health policies.

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“…Similarly, in a sample from the United States, 30% of adolescent boys and 27% of young adult men aged 18 to 26 years, compared to 6% of adolescent girls and 5% of young adult women aged 18 to 26 years, endorsed weight gain attempts Nagata et al, 2020). Reflecting a somewhat lower prevalence in a sample from the United Kingdom, particularly for boys, only 13% of adolescent boys and 4% of adolescent girls reported weight gain attempts (Solmi et al, 2020). This research highlights both the inconsistent prevalence of weight gain attempts across countries in multiple independent studies over the past 20 years, as well as provides evidence that additional contemporary research on weight gain attempts is warranted to better understand this behavior.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 91%

“…Guided by frameworks highlighting the role of pressures related to shape and weight (Ata et al, 2015;Donovan et al, 2020;Tylka, 2011Tylka, , 2021, prior research has identified several distinct factors related to weight gain attempts. First, consistent with the greater emphasis on lean, bulky muscularity characterizing the male body ideal versus the fit, toned muscularity (with less emphasis on bulk) characterizing the female body ideal, studies have shown that men are more likely than women to endorse efforts to increase weight (Minnick et al, 2020;Nagata, Garber, Tabler, Murray, & Bibbins-Domingo, 2018;Solmi et al, 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 94%

“…Although research investigating the prevalence and correlates of weight gain attempts has increased in recent years, several key gaps remain. First, a majority of existing studies have focused solely on adolescents and young adults (McVey, Tweed, & Blackmore, 2005;Minnick et al, 2020;Nagata et al, 2020;Solmi et al, 2020), with limited data available in middle-aged and older adults. This is especially problematic in light of evidence that body image concerns and related behaviors remain common through adulthood, yet may be somewhat distinct in nature from younger populations (Bennett, Hurd, Pritchard, Colton, & Crocker, 2020;Brown, Forney, Klein, Grillot, & Keel, 2020;Keel, Baxter, Heatherton, & Joiner, 2007;Murray, Brown, Lavender, Nagata, & Keel, 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Prevalence and correlates of weight gain attempts across five countries

Ganson

Lavender

Rodgers

et al. 2021

Intl J Eating Disorders

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Objective: To determine the prevalence and correlates of weight gain attempts in a pooled sample of adults aged 18 and older from Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Mexico. Method: Data collected during 2 years (2018 and 2019) of the International Food Policy Study (N = 42,108) were analyzed. Unadjusted 12-month prevalence of weight gain attempts was estimated based on body mass index (BMI; kg/m 2 ), weight perception, country, survey year, and sex. Logistic regression analyses were estimated to determine the sociodemographic correlates (age, race/ethnicity, education, BMI, weight perception, weight perception accuracy, and self-rated mental health) of weight gain attempts among the pooled sample stratified by sex.Results: Men (10.4%) were significantly more likely than women (5.4%) to report weight gain attempts (p < .001). Nearly one in five (17.1%) men with a BMI in the "normal" range (≥18.5 to <25.0) reported weight gain attempts. Among both men and women, minority group identity was associated with higher odds, while older age and higher BMI category were associated with lower odds, of reporting weight gain attempts. Country differences over the two survey years showed the prevalence of weight gain attempts in 2019 (vs. 2018) was higher among women in Australia (p < .05) and men in the United States (p < .01).Discussion: Weight gain attempts are more common among men, compared to women, across five countries, potentially reflecting the global salience of the pursuit of a muscular body.

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Changes in the Prevalence and Correlates of Weight-Control Behaviors and Weight Perception in Adolescents in the UK, 1986-2015

Cited by 44 publications

References 58 publications

Associations between adolescent mental health and health-related behaviours in 2005 and 2015: A population cross-cohort study

Associations between adolescent mental health and health-related behaviours in 2005 and 2015: A population cross-cohort study

Mental health of people with distorted body weight perception using medicinal remedies: A representative study

Prevalence and correlates of weight gain attempts across five countries

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