Negative familial weight talk and weight bias internalization in a US sample of children and adolescents

Abstract

SummaryBackgroundNegative familial weight talk may contribute to higher weight bias internalization in pre‐ and early adolescents (hereafter referred to as children) and may differ by gender, weight status, and race and ethnicity.ObjectiveExamine the relationship between negative familial weight talk and weight bias internalization and examine differences by gender, weight status, and race and ethnicity.MethodsWe cross‐sectionally analysed 5th–7th graders (10–15 years old) living in Massachusetts (n = 375, 52.3% girls, 21.3% BMI ≥85th percentile, 54.8% non‐Hispanic White). Negative familial weight talk frequency during the past 3 months was self‐reported and discretized as ‘never,’ ‘occasionally’ (1–9 times) and ‘often’ (>9 times); the Modified Weight Bias Internalization Scale assessed weight bias internalization. Generalized linear models estimated the relationship between negative familial weight talk and weight bias internalization and sub‐analyses estimated the relationship across gender, weight status, and race and ethnicity. Results are summarized as ratios of means (RoM).ResultsChildren experiencing negative familial weight talk occasionally (RoM = 1.12, p = 0.024) and often (RoM = 1.48, p < 0.001) had significantly higher weight bias internalization than children who never experienced it. In sub‐analyses, experiencing negative familial weight talk often was associated with higher weight bias internalization among girls (RoM = 1.66, p < 0.001), boys (RoM = 1.32, p = 0.007), children with BMI <85th percentile (RoM = 1.44, p = 0.007) and BMI ≥85th percentile (RoM = 1.39, p = 0.001), and non‐Hispanic White children (RoM = 1.78, p < 0.001), but not Hispanic (RoM = 1.25, p = 0.085) or non‐Hispanic Black children (RoM = 1.20; p = 0.31).ConclusionsFrequent negative familial weight talk was associated with higher weight bias internalization across gender and weight status and in non‐Hispanic White children only.