Do Weight Perception Transitions in Adolescence Predict Concurrent and Long-Term Disordered Eating Behaviors?

Area of Science:

• Adolescent health
• Eating disorders
• Psychology

Background:

• Perceiving one's weight as "overweight" is linked to disordered eating behaviors in adolescents.
• It remains unclear how weight perceptions evolve during adolescence and if these changes predict disordered eating.

Purpose of the Study:

• To characterize weight perception transitions from early to late adolescence in a population-based sample.
• To investigate if adolescent weight perception transitions predict concurrent and future disordered eating into young adulthood.

Main Methods:

• Utilized data from the "Eating and Activity in Teens and Young Adults" survey (N=1,414).
• Examined weight perception changes from early (mean age 14.9) to late adolescence (mean age 19.4).
• Employed adjusted generalized estimating equations to assess the predictive relationship between weight perception transitions and disordered eating up to young adulthood (mean age 31.0).

Main Results:

• Weight perception remained stable for 77.2% of adolescents from early to late adolescence.
• 15.5% transitioned to perceiving themselves as "overweight", while 7.3% stopped perceiving themselves as "overweight".
• Perceiving oneself as "overweight", particularly in late adolescence, was associated with higher concurrent and long-term disordered eating, persisting up to 10 years later. For instance, binge eating prevalence in young adulthood was 20.1% for those consistently perceiving themselves as "overweight" versus 6.6% for those who never did.

Conclusions:

• Adolescent weight perception demonstrates relative stability within a population-based sample.
• Transitions involving the perception of being "overweight", especially during late adolescence, are linked to an elevated long-term risk of developing disordered eating patterns.