Avoiding exercise mediates the effects of internalized and experienced weight stigma on physical activity in the years following bariatric surgery.

ABSTRACT:

Background

People living with severe obesity report high levels of weight-related stigma. Theoretically, this stigma undermines weight loss efforts. The objective of this study is to test one proposed mechanism to explain why weight loss is so difficult once an individual becomes obese: that weight-related stigma inhibits physical activity via demotivation to exercise.

Methods

The study focused on individuals who had bariatric surgery within the past 5 years (N = 298) and who report a post-surgical body mass index (BMI) ranging from 16 to 70. Exercise avoidance motivation (EAM) and physical activity (PA) were modeled as latent variables using structural equation modeling. Two measures of weight stigma, the Stigmatizing Situations Inventory (SSI) and the Weight Bias In

SUBMITTER: Han S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6027738 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature