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A new, developmentally-sensitive measure of weight suppression
Simar Singh1, Danielle E Apple2, Fengqing Zhang1
1Department of Psychology, Drexel University, 3141 Chestnut St, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA.
Appetite
|April 2, 2021
Summary
Developmental weight suppression (DWS) offers a more accurate measure of weight changes relevant to eating disorders by using BMI z-scores. This new method accounts for age, sex, and height, improving upon traditional weight suppression calculations.
Area of Science:
- Eating disorder research
- Developmental psychology
- Biostatistics
Background:
- Traditional weight suppression (WS) calculations are often inaccurate for individuals with disordered eating.
- Highest past weight is typically reached during adolescence, complicating adult height-based WS measures.
Purpose of the Study:
- Introduce a novel method for calculating weight suppression, termed developmental weight suppression (DWS).
- Provide a user-friendly web-based tool for calculating DWS.
Main Methods:
- DWS is computed as the difference between the highest premorbid BMI z-score and the current BMI z-score.
- BMI z-scores are derived using Cole's lambda-mu-sigma (LMS) method with CDC parameters.
- A web application facilitates easy DWS computation.
Main Results:
- DWS is more sensitive to developmental factors like age, height, and sex compared to traditional WS.
- Preliminary data indicate DWS correlates more strongly with eating pathology and biological responses to weight loss.
Conclusions:
- DWS provides a more developmentally appropriate and potentially more accurate measure of weight suppression.
- Further research is warranted to validate DWS's relationship with eating pathology and weight loss outcomes.
