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Individuals who are overweight or who have obesity are likely to perceive or experience unfriendly treatment (i.e., weight-related perceived stigma) from different sources such as work colleagues because of the stigma towards excess weight. People who are overweight may accept such stigma and devalue themselves (i.e., weight-related self-stigma).

A systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted to examine the relationship between weight stigma (including weight-related self-stigma and weight-related perceived stigma) and psychological distress (including depression and anxiety) using random-effects meta-analyses. Utilizing five academic databases (PubMed, Scopus, WOS, Embase and ProQuest) and keywords related to weight stigma and psychological distress, empirical studies focusing on the association between weight stigma and psychological distress were selected …