Interplay between actual and perceived weight on mental health among Canadian Indigenous post-secondary students

Abstract

Objectives

Research increasingly focuses on the mental health implications of both actual and perceived weight, particularly among post-secondary students. Considering their unique socio-cultural context and the frequent oversight in research, this study examines these implications specifically among Canadian Indigenous post-secondary students. Recent evidence indicates that students with normal weight may also experience increased mental health risks due to negative weight perceptions. Therefore, this study explores the independent and combined effects of actual and perceived weight on the mental health of this group.

Participants and methods

This study utilized data from the 2017 Aboriginal Peoples Survey, a nationally representative sample of First Nations peoples living off-reserve, Métis, and Inuit. The focus was on Canadian Indigenous post-secondary students aged 19-34 years (n = 1,518). Logistic regression models, stratified by sex, were employed to analyze the data.

Results

Perceptions of being overweight were linked to a higher risk of mood and anxiety disorders, poor self-rated mental health, and suicidal ideation among female students. This pattern was less evident among male students. Notably, female students who were overweight and perceived themselves as such were more likely to report poor mental health across all four indicators examined. In contrast, male students exhibited a less clear pattern. Diverging from recent studies, the findings indicated less robust mental health disparities among students with normal weight who perceived themselves as overweight, potentially due to the insufficient cell size of this category among Indigenous post-secondary students.

Conclusions

The study highlights the complex interplay between actual and perceived weight and its impact on mental health, particularly among female Indigenous post-secondary students.

Keywords:

• Indigenous
• mental health
• post-secondary
• weight
• weight perceptions

Ethics approval

The author used the public microdata file of the 2017 APS collected by Statistics Canada. Thus, the study does not need ethics approval or consent from the participants.

Author contributions

The author conceptualized the study, conducted analyses, and wrote the manuscript.

Conflict of interest disclosure

The author has no conflicts of interest to report. The author confirms that the research presented in this article met the ethical guidelines, including adherence to the legal requirements of Canada. The author used the public microdata file of the 2017 APS collected by Statistics Canada. Thus, the study does not need ethics approval or consent from the participants.