Research
Adherence
Higher BMI is associated with a higher frequency of experiencing weight stigma, particularly from family members.
As your weight increases, you are statistically more likely to experience stigma, especially from family. This is a societal issue, not a reflection of your character. Being aware of this pattern can help you anticipate and manage these interactions.
GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
Experiencing stigma was positively correlated with BMI (r = 0.06, p < 0.05), suggesting that as weight increases, more stigma is experienced... Increased frequency of interpersonal sources of stigma was not associated with BMI, with the exception of family members (r = 0.06, p < 0.05), suggesting that people may confront a range of sources of stigma at all levels of overweight but experience more stigma from family members as their weight increases.
Why this rating
Large sample size, clear statistical correlation reported.
Source
Confronting and Coping with Weight Stigma: An Investigation of Overweight and Obese Adults
Rebecca M. Puhl et al. · Obesity · 2006
DOI 10.1038/oby.2006.208
cross_sectional · n=3304Cited 1,033×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- Experiencing weight-based stigma is associated with increased use of maladaptive coping strategies, specifically eating more food, which may perpetuate weight gain and obesity.Good
- Coping strategies such as positive self-talk and seeking social support are associated with better psychological outcomes (higher self-esteem, lower depression) in response to weight stigma.Good
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