ArticleEating and weight disorders : EWD2023
Weight stigma and disordered eating behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic: the mediating role of weight gain concern and psychological distress.
Article in Eating and weight disorders : EWD, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 4 citations in OpenAlex.
- A systematic review of weight stigma and disordered eating cognitions and behaviors.Body image · 2024Pooled it
- What is the felt experience of weight stigma in Latin America and the Caribbean? A systematic narrative review.Lancet regional health. Americas · 2026Review
- Longitudinal patterns of disordered eating behaviors in children and adolescents from the Brazilian High-Risk Cohort study for mental conditions.Revista brasileira de psiquiatria (Sao Paulo, Brazil : 1999) · 2025Article
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
objectivesThe purpose of this study is to investigate whether the relationship between weight stigma experiences and disordered eating behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic is mediated by weight gain concern and psychological distress among university students with and without overweight.
methodsA cross-sectional study was conducted with university students from five regions of Brazil who participated in the baseline assessment of the Online Cohort on Eating Behavior and Health (July/August 2020). Information on the frequency of binge eating episodes, food restriction, and purging, as well as experienced weight stigma, weight gain concern, and psychological distress, were recorded in an online questionnaire. Stratified structural equation modeling (SEM) analyses were performed to address the research questions of interest.
resultsOut of the total sample (n = 2511), 33.5% of participants reported experiencing weight stigma. The prevalence of binge eating episodes, food restriction, and purging was 43.7%, 24.1%, and 5.4%, respectively. These behaviors were more prevalent in individuals with overweight than in those without this condition. Furthermore, it was observed that weight gain concern and psychological distress mediated the relationship between weight stigma and disordered eating behaviors regardless of body weight status.
conclusionsExperiences of weight stigma and disordered eating behaviors were prevalent among Brazilian university students, especially among those with overweight. Weight gain concern and psychological distress appear to be important factors underlying the relationship between these constructs during the pandemic, and they can contribute to the development of targeted strategies for the prevention and management of disordered eating. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level V, cross-sectional study.
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