Obesity, perceived weight discrimination, and psychological well-being in older adults in England: Obesity, Discrimination, and Well-being
Open accessAbstract
OBJECTIVE: To examine whether the adverse effect of obesity on psychological well-being can be explained by weight discrimination. METHODS: The study sample included 5056 older (≥50 y) men and women living in England and participating in the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. Participants reported experiences of weight discrimination in everyday life and completed measures of quality of life (CASP-19 scale), life satisfaction (Satisfaction With Life Scale), and depressive symptoms (eight-item CES-D scale). Height and weight were objectively measured, with obesity defined as BMI ≥30 kg/m2 . Mediation analyses were used to test the role of perceived weight discrimination in the relationship between obesity and each psychological factor. RESULTS: Obesity, weight discrimination, and psychological well-being were all significantly inter-related. Mediation models revealed significant indirect effects of obesity through perceived weight discrimination on quality of life (β = -0.072, SE = 0.008), life satisfaction (β = -0.038, SE = 0.008), and depressive symptoms (β = 0.057, SE = 0.008), with perceived weight discrimination explaining approximately 40% (range: 39.5-44.1%) of the total association between obesity and psychological well-being. CONCLUSIONS: Perceived weight discrimination explains a substantial proportion of the association between obesity and psychological well-being in English older adults. Efforts to reduce weight stigma in society could help to reduce the psychological burden of obesity.
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Enhancing PPWB may improve positive health behaviors and buffer the effects of negative self-beliefs and negative health outcomes in women with obesity, but the evidence to support this is limited.
“Enhancing PPWB may improve positive health behaviors and buffer the effects of negative self‐beliefs and negative health outcomes in women with obesity 9 , 12 , 13 but the evidence to support this is limited.”
From Positive psychological well-being in women with obesity: A scoping review of qualitative and quantitative primary research (2022) · cites this paper as [13]
The Discussion (page not provided) suggests that promoting self-acceptance in people with obesity could lessen the impact of perceived weight discrimination and improve well-being. It does not show that enhancing positive psychological well-being improves health behaviors or physical health outcomes. The Discussion raises women's potentially greater vulnerability as a question for future research, rather than establishing an effect specifically in women. (LLM, conf=0.85)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredResearchers suggest that positive emotions may improve negative self-beliefs and health.
“Researchers suggest that positive emotions may improve negative self‐beliefs and health. 9 , 12 , 13”
From Positive psychological well-being in women with obesity: A scoping review of qualitative and quantitative primary research (2022) · cites this paper as [13]
The Methods > Measures section treats positive affect as an aspect of psychological well-being, but does not say it improves self-beliefs or health. The Discussion suggests that promoting self-acceptance could improve well-being; it does not make the claimed point about positive emotions. No page numbers are available in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.70)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
The citation lists haven’t been fetched yet
References 41 · Cited by 134
Research works printed but not linked: 3
- [2]National Institutes of Health. Health Implications of Obesity. Consensus Development Conference Statement. 1985.
- [22]Radloff LS. The CES‐D scale. Appl Psychol Meas 1977; 1: 385– 401.
- [24]Banks J, Karlsen S, Oldfield Z. Socio‐economic position In: Marmot M, Banks J, Lessof C, Nazroo J (eds). Health, Wealth and Lifestyles of the Older Population in England. London: Institute of Fiscal Studies; 2003 pp. 72– 125.
- Authors
- Jackson, S. E., Beeken, R. J., & Wardle, J.
- Affiliations
- University College London (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Jackson, Sarah E.
- Venue
- Obesity
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2015-03-25
- Volume
- 23
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 1105-1111
- ISSN
- 1930-7381 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC4414736
- OpenAlex
- W1584237764
- Cited by
- 134
- References
- 41
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 10 · 2024: 12 · 2023: 11 · 2022: 18 · 2021: 12 · 2020: 14 · 2019: 16 · 2018: 14 · 2017: 7 · 2016: 12 · 2015: 1 · 2014: 1 · 2013: 1
- FWCI
- 28.61
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Locations
- Obesity (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Cancer Research UK (C1418/A14133)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › Pharmacy › Obesity and Health Practices
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Obesity, Physical Activity, Diet
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Eating Disorders and Behaviors
- Keywords
- weight discrimination, weight stigma, psychological well-being, older adults, quality of life, life satisfaction, depressive symptoms, mediation, body mass index
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Body Weight, Depression, England, Female, Humans, Longitudinal Studies, Male, Mental Health, Middle Aged, Obesity, Quality of Life, Self Concept, Social Stigma, Social Discrimination
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
