title: Weight Discrimination and Risk of Mortality.
abstract: Discrimination based on weight is a stressful social experience linked to declines in physical and mental health. We examined whether this harmful association extends to risk of mortality. Participants in the Health and Retirement Study (HRS; N = 13,692) and the Midlife in the United States Study (MIDUS; N = 5,079) reported on perceived discriminatory experiences and attributed those experiences to a number of personal characteristics, including weight. Weight discrimination was associated with an increase in mortality risk of nearly 60% in both HRS participants (hazard ratio = 1.57, 95% confidence interval = [1.34, 1.84]) and MIDUS participants (hazard ratio = 1.59, 95% confidence interval = [1.09, 2.31]). This increased risk was not accounted for by common physical and psychological risk factors. The association between mortality and weight discrimination was generally stronger than that between mortality and other attributions for discrimination. In addition to its association with poor health outcomes, weight discrimination may shorten life expectancy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Behavioral Sciences and Social Medicine, Florida State University College of Medicine angelina.sutin@med.fsu.edu.
authors.forename: Angelina R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Sutin
authors.affiliation: Dynamics of Human Abilities and Health Behaviors Laboratory, University of Montpellier.
authors.forename: Yannick
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Stephan
authors.affiliation: Department of Geriatrics, Florida State University College of Medicine.
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Terracciano
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008603:Mental Health; D008875:Middle Aged; D009026:Mortality; D050177:Overweight / Q000523:psychology*; D011287:Prejudice; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D063508:Social Discrimination; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000175:diagnosis*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States
keywords: health; open data; open materials; psychological stress