The prevalence of negative weight commentary in girls sport and associations with body image and well-being in young adulthood

This study examined the prevalence of negative weight commentary across girls sport sources, and the association between weight commentary and body image (appearance and fitness shame, guilt, envy, embarrassment, pride) and psychological well-being (depression, internalized weight bias, self-esteem) in young adulthood. Women who played adolescent sport [<i>N</i> = 124, <i>M</i>_age = 21.48 (1.39)] retrospectively reported experiences of negative weight commentary in sport and current body image and psychological well-being via survey. Multivariate analyses of variance were used to test differences between women with and without negative weight commentary histories during sport. Over 70% of women reported negative weight comments during sport, most commonly from parents (44.4%). Negative weight commentary was associated with higher appearance shame (<i>η</i>_p² <i>=</i> 0.12), guilt (<i>η</i>_p² <i>=</i> 0.07), embarrassment (<i>η</i>_p² <i>=</i> 0.07), depression (<i>η</i>_p² <i>=</i> 0.08) and internalized weight bias (<i>η</i>_p² <i>=</i> 0.09) in young adulthood. These findings support the need for weight-inclusive policies and training to improve girls sport experiences and outcomes.