Women are more likely to gain weight when family makes negative comments about their bodies or offers "helpful" weight-loss tips, Waterloo research finds
With the holiday season upon us there will be lots of “helpful” weight-loss advice passed around with the platters of tempting treats.
But a Waterloo study about interpersonal messages and weight loss shows that young women whose loved ones send negative messages about their weight actually went on to put on an average of 4.5 pounds.
Women whose families were more accepting maintained their weight and some actually lost a pound, according to the study published in the December issue of the journal Personal Relationships.
“We all know someone who points out our weight gain or offers to help us lose weight. Our results suggest that these comments are misguided,” says Christine Logel, lead author and assistant professor from Renison University College at the University of Waterloo.
Pressure from loved ones about weight loss was not helpful for women already concerned about it, she said. It actually led some women, who weren’t originally concerned about their weight, to gain some weight.
“When we feel bad about our bodies, we often turn to loved ones—families, friends, and romantic partners—for support and advice. How they respond can have a bigger effect than we might think,” said Logel, who teaches in the Social Development Studies program.
So instead of resolving to lose weight in 2015, Logel, who led the study, suggests: “How about resolving to spend more time with people who accept you just as you are?”
The researchers studied university-age women, a demographic often dissatisfied with personal weight. The team of social psychologists asked the women their height and weight, and how they felt about what they see on the scale. About five months later, they asked them if they had talked to their loved ones about their concerns, and if so, how they had responded. About three months after that, they tracked whether their weight and their concerns about it changed in that time.
“On average, the women in the study were at the high end of Health Canada’s BMI recommendations, so the healthiest thing is for them to maintain the weight they have and not be so hard on themselves," said Logel. "But many of the women were still very concerned about how much they weigh, and most talked to their loved ones about it."
Overall, the women in the sample gained some weight over time, which is not uncommon for young adults. But if the women got the message from their loved ones that they look fine, then they maintained or even lost a bit of weight.
The results showed that when women concerned about their weight heard that their loved ones accepted them as they are, they felt better about their bodies and subsequently they did not gain like other women did.
The research suggests that feeling better about themselves caused the women to be more active or eat more sensibly. Receiving unconditional acceptance might have lowered their stress, a known cause of weight gain.
“Lots of research finds that social support improves our health," said Logel. "An important part of social support is feeling that our loved ones accept us just the way we are.”
