Weight, gender, and depressive symptoms in <scp>S</scp>outh <scp>K</scp>orea

Abstract

For South Koreans, the stress of adhering to social norms and avoiding stigma related to body weight seems to explain the relationship between higher body weight and more depressive symptoms. Women are more vulnerable overall, but men are not immune. This study demonstrates that body concerns help explain why weight predicts depression, and more broadly supports the proposition that widespread weight-related stigma is a potentially major, if unrecognized, driver of population-level health disparities.