Agreement with weight-neutral compared to weight-centric physical activity messages and relationships to sedentary behavior, physical activity, and internalized weight bias in people living in larger bodies

Figures & data

Figure 1. Participant flowchart showing recruitment and exclusion from data analysis.

Table 1. Demographic information by condition.

Variable		Weight-neutral (N = 31)	Weight-centric (N = 23)
Age M (SD)		49.2 (8.35)	50.91 (11.16)
BMI M (SD)		46.9 (12.17)	46.6 (15.5)
Gender N (%) self-identified woman		29 (93.5)	20 (86.9)
Ethnicity N (%) self-identified white/caucasian		29 (93.5)	24 (96)
Education N (%)	High school	3 (9.7)	5 (21.7)
	College or technical	17 (54.8)	7 (30.4)
	Undergraduate	4 (12.9)	5 (21.7)
	Professional/Graduate	6 (19.4)	6 (26.0)
	Prefer not to answer	1 (3.2)	–
Income N (%)	< $50,000	8 (25.8)	9 (39.1)
	$50,000 - $99,000	20 (64.5)	8 (34.8)
	>$100,000	2 (6.5)	5 (21.7)
	Prefer not to answer	1 (3.2)	1 (4.3)

Table 2. Means (SD) for variables at all testing points by message group.

	Pretest		Posttest		Follow-up
	WN	WC	WN	WC	WN	WC
Variable
Internalized weight bias (1–7 scale)	5.22 (1.38)	4.74 (1.38)	4.90 (1.58)	4.28 (1.49)	4.95 (1.53)	4.33 (1.53)
Message ratings (1–7 scale)	–	–	5.63 (.75)	5.07 (.93)	–	–
Sedentary behavior**	–	–	64.53 (10.81)	63.87 (6.73)	65.81 (11.97)	63.38 (9.54)
Light activity**	–	–	31.99 (9.77)	32.52 (5.66)	31.18 (11.27)	32.91 (8.49)
MVPA**	–	–	3.48 (2.72)	3.61 (2.92)	3.00 (2.62)	3.71 (3.55)

* WN = weight-neutral; WC = weight-centric; MVPA = moderate-vigorous physical activity.

** Percentage of weekly behavior.

Table 3. Sample comments and results of chi-square test examining differences between groups in number of statements assigned a code.

Code χ^2,p-value	Condition (N comments)	Weight-neutral condition
Pro-message χ^2 = 1.52, p = .22	Weight-neutral (N = 10)	I liked seeing the diversity of body shapes and sizes. All the pictures showed people doing "normal" physical activity that anyone can do - nothing was super extreme or unachievable. The images looked unfamiliar because usually I don’t see fat people depicted doing physical activity, I usually only see thin, young, and overly muscular people. I felt like I could identify with many of the people in the pictures. All of the messages resonated with why I do regular physical activity.
	Weight centric (N = 4)	that these people are body inclusive- its nice to see people of similar body types not skinny
Anti-message χ^2 = 9.77, p = .002	Weight-neutral (N = 3)	i was thinking that exercise is great but still ridiculed in a big body. i found myself looking at their bodies instead of activity
	Weight-centric (N = 12)	My thoughts on the images where there are people exercising and moving. Some of the messages, my first thought was that’s out of date with the current science. … the messages are similar to what we see, but it’s incorrect.
Pro-PA χ^2 = 4.05, p = .04	Weight-neutral (N = 18)	Mostly really excited to get out on my bicycle, the street cleaners just came out today. When the person lifting the dumbell up I thought "hell yeah, lifting weights makes me feel strong".
	Weight-centric (N = 7)	I felt like it is conveying a message that the goal of physical activity is to lose weight and inches. But there is soooo much more to it. Mental health is a huge benefit of physical activity. Just feeling good and keeping strong is a huge benefit. I don’t really do the activiites I do for the sole purpose of weight loss. I do it because I enjoy it and because I feel good afterwards.*
Anti-PA χ^2 = 1.15, p = .28	Weight-neutral (N = 4)	you can be strong even if you are obese. For some people exercise is a painful experience and adding more pain to your already painful body is not always the best answer
	Weight-centric (N = 1)	These activities can contribute to weight loss, but won’t necessarily - the number one factor needed to achieve weight loss is a calorie deficit. If these activities contribute to being in a calorie deficit, then weight loss can be achieved, however all the exercise in the world won’t give you weight loss if you are not in a calorie deficit. Also, you can be in a calorie deficit and lose weight without exercising.

* Coded as anti-message and pro-PA.

Table 4. Mediation models.

	Sedentary behavior	Light activity	MVPA
Model summary	R^2 = .12, F (3, 50) = 2.27, p = .09	R^2 = .13, F (3, 50) = 2.55, p = .07	R^2 = .01, F (3, 50) = .23, p = .88
Predictors	Coeff (LLCI; ULCI)	Coeff (LLCI; ULCI)	Coeff (LLCI; ULCI)
Message group	−3.63 (–9.90; 2.63), p = .25	2.91 (–2.84; 8.65), p = .31	.72 (–1.12; 2.56), p = .43
Internalized weight bias	−2.35 (–4.27; .–44), p = .02	2.34 (.59; 4.10), p = .01	−.01 (-.57; 055), p = .97
Item ratings	.44 (–3.11; 3.99), p = .81	−.46 (–3.72; 2.79), p = .78	.03 (–1.01; 1.07), p = .96

LLCI = lower level confidence interval; ULCI = upper level confidence interval.