title: Weight comments by family and significant others in young adulthood.
abstract: Weight teasing is common among adolescents, but less is known about the continuation of this experience during young adulthood. The present study uses survey data from a diverse sample of 2287 young adults, who participated in a 10-year longitudinal study of weight-related issues to examine hurtful weight comments by family members or a significant other. Among young adults, 35.9% of females and 22.8% of males reported receiving hurtful weight-related comments by family members, and 21.2% of females and 23.8% of males with a significant other had received hurtful weight-related comments from this source. Hispanic and Asian young adults and overweight/obese young adults were more likely to report receiving comments than those in other groups. Weight teasing during adolescence predicted hurtful weight-related comments in young adulthood, with some differences by gender. Findings suggest that hurtful weight talk continues into young adulthood and is predicted by earlier weight teasing experiences.
authors.affiliation: Division of Adolescent Health and Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, University of Minnesota, 717 Delaware St. SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA. eisen012@umn.edu
authors.forename: Marla E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Eisenberg
authors.forename: Jerica M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Berge
authors.forename: Jayne A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Fulkerson
authors.forename: Dianne
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Neumark-Sztainer
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001741:Black or African American / Q000523:psychology; D001213:Asian / Q000523:psychology; D001835:Body Weight; D005190:Family / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000523:psychology*; D030141:Feedback, Psychological; D005260:Female; D033062:Friends / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000523:psychology*; D006306:Health Surveys; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D009765:Obesity / Q000523:psychology; D050177:Overweight / Q000523:psychology; D012919:Social Behavior; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013851:Thinness / Q000523:psychology; D044465:White People / Q000523:psychology; D055815:Young Adult