Weight Stigma as a Risk Factor for Suicidality

Excerpt

In this issue, Daly et al. [ 1 ] show that subjective perceptions of “overweight” were associated with increased risk of suicidal ideation, plans, and attempt in a large sample of US adolescents, even when controlling for participant age, gender, race/ethnicity, body mass index (BMI), and depression. These findings are consistent with existing research demonstrating that subjective weight perceptions were positively associated with suicidality in a large sample of young women in the US [ 2 ]. In this study, the association between self-perceived weight and suicidal ideation held even when controlling for covariates such as participant age, race/ethnicity, BMI, depression, risky behavior involvement, self-reported health status, history of familial suicidal behavior, and parent education. Thus, it appears as though the association between weight perceptions and suicidality is robust, and that self-perceived weight status is more strongly associated with suicidality than BMI.