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Objective: This study assessed cross‐sectional and longitudinal relationships between weight teasing and disordered eating in an ethnically/racially and socioeconomically diverse sample of young people and examined these relationships across sociodemographic characteristics. Method: The EAT 2010–2018 study surveyed adolescents (n = 1,534) in the Minneapolis/St. Paul public schools (mean age = 14.4 years) and 8 years later (mean age = 22.2 years). Results: Weight teasing was prevalent in adolescence (34.1%) and young adulthood (41.5%). In analyses adjusted for sociodemographic characteristics and body mass index, weight teasing was cross‐sectionally associated with a higher prevalence of all disordered eating behaviors during both adolescence and young adulthood. For example, 64.5% of young adults who reported being teased about their weight engaged in unhealthy weight control behaviors, compared with 47.9% among those not teased (p <.001). There were fewer observed associations in longitudinal analyses, although weight teasing still predicted prevalent overeating and both prevalent and incident dieting (incident dieting—teased: 48.4% vs. not teased: 38.0%, p =.016). Weight teasing and disordered eating were more prevalent among Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) young people and those from low socioeconomic backgrounds, and the relationship between weight teasing and disordered eating was similar across ethnic/racial, socioeconomic, and gender demographic groups. Discussion: Results indicate that weight teasing is strongly correlated with disordered eating in both adolescence and young adulthood regardless of ethnicity/race, socioeconomic status, or gender. Finding suggest that future research and policy interventions should address weight stigma and prioritize the needs of BIPOC young people and young people from low socioeconomic backgrounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Sociocultural theories hold that family and peer weight‐related teasing increases the risk for unhealthy weight control behaviors (UWCBs) by negatively impacting body image. Although much cross‐sectional support exists for these pathways, longitudinal data are lacking. This study tested the longitudinal relationships among peer and family teasing (occurrence and perceived impact) in early adolescence, body satisfaction in late adolescence, and UWCBs in young adulthood among a racially/ethnically and socioeconomically diverse population. Method: Data were drawn from three waves of Project EAT over a 15‐year period (Eating and Activity in Teens and Young Adults), and included responses from 1,902 young adults (57% female). Results: Among female participants, a mediated indirect pathway emerged with family weight‐related teasing predicting increased engagement in UWCBs in early adulthood via poorer body image in late adolescence. In contrast, peer teasing did not predict body image or UWCBs. Among boys, the mediated indirect pathways were not significant. However, poor body image in late adolescent males predicted higher likelihood of engaging in UCWBs in early adulthood. Discussion: These findings support the long‐term impact of family weight‐related teasing on greater risk for UWCBs among girls and young women, and poor body image as a mechanism accounting for this relationship. Moreover, the results highlight the poor body image among adolescent boys as a factor for increased risk of engaging in UWCBs in early adulthood. Pending replication in current cohorts, health promotion and prevention involving family members of early adolescents that address family weight teasing and body image are needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The aim of this study was to examine the relative importance of dissatisfaction, overvaluation, and preoccupation with body weight and shape in predicting increases in disordered eating behaviors and depressive symptoms from adolescence through to early adulthood. Method: The study involved 1,830 participants (60% female) who completed the Project EAT survey during adolescence (mean age = 14.90 years, SD = 1.65 years) and again, 15 years later, in early adulthood. Participants provided assessments of dissatisfaction, overvaluation and preoccupation with weight and shape, as well as disordered eating and depressive symptoms at both time points. Results: The three aspects of body image had distinct patterns of association with the outcomes both concurrently and longitudinally. Dissatisfaction predicted depressive symptoms as well as a wide range of disordered eating outcomes, including dieting, unhealthy weight control behaviors (UWCBs), and binge eating, particularly in female participants. Preoccupation was associated with all of these disordered eating behaviors (but not with depressive symptoms) and was notably the strongest predictor of dieting and UWCBs in female participants. Overvaluation was associated with both disordered eating and depressive symptoms, although typically was a less potent predictor of difficulties than the other aspects of body image. Discussion Dissatisfaction, overvaluation, and preoccupation are related but make distinct contributions to clinically significant outcomes. Models of eating disorders should move beyond focusing exclusively on dissatisfaction or overvaluation toward a broader conceptualisation of body image. Findings from this study particularly suggest the importance of considering preoccupation with weight and shape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]