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Psychiatry1034 papers

Weight fixation

Last edited: 4/14/2026

Overview

Weight fixation refers to persistent preoccupation with body weight, often leading to unhealthy behaviors such as extreme dieting or excessive exercise. It can significantly impact physical and mental health, particularly in contexts like sports where weight categories are crucial.

Diagnosis

  • Clinical Presentation: Persistent concern about body weight disproportionate to actual weight status.
  • Behavioral Signs: Extreme dieting, binge eating, excessive exercise, and use of weight-loss supplements or medications.
  • Psychological Assessment: Screening for eating disorders, depression, and anxiety using standardized tools 9.
  • Physical Examination: Monitoring for signs of malnutrition, electrolyte imbalances, and other health complications 16.

    • Management

  • Psychological Support: Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) to address distorted perceptions and behaviors 9.
  • Nutritional Counseling: Balanced diet plans to ensure adequate nutrition without extreme caloric restriction 27.
  • Medical Monitoring: Regular check-ups to manage physical health impacts, including metabolic and cardiovascular assessments 116.
  • Medication: Antidepressants or anti-anxiety medications if comorbid mental health conditions are present 9.

    • Special Populations

  • Pregnancy: Focus on maintaining healthy weight gain through balanced nutrition and prenatal care to prevent low birth weight 211122127.
  • Pediatrics: Early intervention for children showing signs of eating disorders or unhealthy weight fixation behaviors 717.
  • Elderly: Evaluation for unintentional weight loss due to underlying medical conditions requiring comprehensive geriatric assessment 19.
  • Comorbidities: Addressing weight fixation alongside other conditions like cardiovascular disease or diabetes, emphasizing holistic care 116.

    • Key Recommendations

  • Implement Psychological Interventions: Use cognitive-behavioral therapy to manage weight fixation behaviors (Evidence: Moderate 9).
  • Ensure Nutritional Adequacy: Provide balanced nutritional counseling to prevent malnutrition and support overall health (Evidence: Moderate 27).
  • Regular Medical Monitoring: Conduct routine health assessments to identify and manage physical health risks associated with weight fixation (Evidence: Moderate 116).
  • Screen for Comorbid Conditions: Evaluate and treat concurrent mental health issues such as depression and anxiety (Evidence: Moderate 9).
  • Tailored Support in Special Populations: Offer age-specific interventions, particularly focusing on pregnant women and children to prevent adverse outcomes (Evidence: Moderate 21117).

    • References

    1 Ide N, Shibata R, Sako KI, Maeda T. Disproportionality and time-to-onset analyses of drug-induced weight gain using the Japanese Adverse Drug Event Report database. Drug discoveries & therapeutics 2026. link 2 Islam MZ, Chowdhury MRK, Kader M, Billah B, Islam MS, Rashid M. Determinants of low birth weight and its effect on childhood health and nutritional outcomes in Bangladesh. Journal of health, population, and nutrition 2024. link 3 Adenaeuer A, Barco S, Trinchero A, Krutmann S, Nazir HF, Ambaglio C et al.. Severe high-molecular-weight kininogen deficiency: clinical characteristics, deficiency-causing KNG1 variants, and estimated prevalence. Journal of thrombosis and haemostasis : JTH 2023. link 4 Patterson JK, Thorsten VR, Eggleston B, Nolen T, Lokangaka A, Tshefu A et al.. Building a predictive model of low birth weight in low- and middle-income countries: a prospective cohort study. BMC pregnancy and childbirth 2023. link 5 Pesando LM, Qiyomiddin K. Mobile phones and infant health at birth. PloS one 2023. link 6 Kundu RN, Ghosh A, Chhetri B, Saha I, Hossain MG, Bharati P. Regional with urban-rural variation in low birth weight and its determinants of Indian children: findings from National Family Health Survey 5 data. BMC pregnancy and childbirth 2023. link 7 Paz Y Miño MF, Pauta M, Meler E, Matas I, Mazarico E, Camacho A et al.. Postnatal genetic and neurodevelopmental assessment in infants born at term with severely low birth weight of non-placental origin. Ultrasound in obstetrics & gynecology : the official journal of the International Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology 2023. link 8 Lambiris MJ, Blakstad MM, Perumal N, Danaei G, Bliznashka L, Fink G et al.. Birth weight and adult earnings: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of developmental origins of health and disease 2022. link 9 Heitz C, Challen K, Milne WK. Hot off the press: SGEM#343: Weight bias in medicine. Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine 2022. link 10 Eguchi A, Sakurai K, Yamamoto M, Watanabe M, Hisada A, Takahashi T et al.. Association between Total and Individual PCB Congener Levels in Maternal Serum and Birth Weight of Newborns: Results from the Chiba Study of Mother and Child Health Using Weighted Quantile Sum Regression. International journal of environmental research and public health 2022. link 11 Adnan M, Wu SY, Khilfeh M, Davis V. Vitamin D status in very low birth weight infants and response to vitamin D intake during their NICU stays: a prospective cohort study. Journal of perinatology : official journal of the California Perinatal Association 2022. link 12 Grace K, Verdin A, Dorélien A, Davenport F, Funk C, Husak G. Exploring Strategies for Investigating the Mechanisms Linking Climate and Individual-Level Child Health Outcomes: An Analysis of Birth Weight in Mali. Demography 2021. link 13 Choudhury KA, Kumar M, Tripathi S, Singh SN, Singh K, Singh VK. Vitamin D Status of Very Low Birth Weight Neonates at Baseline and Follow-up after Daily Intake of 800 IU Vitamin D. Journal of tropical pediatrics 2021. link 14 Wrzosek M, Woźniak J, Włodarek D. The Combination of a Diversified Intake of Carbohydrates and Fats and Supplementation of Vitamin D in a Diet Does Not Affect the Levels of Hormones (Testosterone, Estradiol, and Cortisol) in Men Practicing Strength Training for the Duration of 12 Weeks. International journal of environmental research and public health 2020. link 15 Ladd-Acosta C, Fallin MD. Invited Commentary: Is DNA Methylation an Actionable Mediator of Prenatal Exposure Effects on Child Health?. American journal of epidemiology 2019. link 16 Hillman LS, Day LS, Hoffman HJ, Stockbauer JW. Poorer outcomes of all low birth weight groups at age 10: Missouri statewide case-control study. Early human development 2019. link 17 Martinson ML, Choi KH. Low birth weight and childhood health: the role of maternal education. Annals of epidemiology 2019. link 18 Goisis A, Schneider DC, Myrskylä M. Secular changes in the association between advanced maternal age and the risk of low birth weight: A cross-cohort comparison in the UK. Population studies 2018. link 19 Mulligan R, Gilmer-Scott M, Kouchel D, Nickelson D, Safavi A, Drickamer M et al.. Unintentional Weight Loss in Older Adults: A Geriatric Interprofessional Simulation Case Series for Health Care Providers. MedEdPORTAL : the journal of teaching and learning resources 2017. link 20 Eneriz-Wiemer M, Saynina O, Sundaram V, Lee HC, Bhattacharya J, Sanders LM. Parent Language: A Predictor for Neurodevelopmental Follow-up Care Among Infants With Very Low Birth Weight. Academic pediatrics 2016. link 21 Biering-Sørensen S, Fisker AB, Ravn H, Camala L, Monteiro I, Aaby P et al.. The effect of neonatal vitamin A supplementation on growth in the first year of life among low-birth-weight infants in Guinea-Bissau: two by two factorial randomised controlled trial. BMC pediatrics 2013. link 22 Trilok-Kumar G, Arora H, Rajput M, Chellani H, Singh V, Raynes J et al.. Effect of vitamin D supplementation of low birth weight term Indian infants from birth on cytokine production at 6 months. European journal of clinical nutrition 2012. link 23 Callizo A. The Küntscher Society: the South American perspective. Injury 2011. link70012-2) 24 Harvey KJ, Korczak VS, Marron LJ, Newgreen DB. Commercialism, choice and consumer protection: regulation of complementary medicines in Australia. The Medical journal of Australia 2008. link 25 Kim KC, Rhee KJ, Shin HD, Kim YM. Arthroscopic removal of an intramedullary nail in the humerus. Knee surgery, sports traumatology, arthroscopy : official journal of the ESSKA 2007. link 26 Stein RJ, Haddock CK, Poston WS, Catanese D, Spertus JA. Precision in weighing: a comparison of scales found in physician offices, fitness centers, and weight loss centers. Public health reports (Washington, D.C. : 1974) 2005. link 27 Ramakrishnan U. Nutrition and low birth weight: from research to practice. The American journal of clinical nutrition 2004. link 28 Mehendale SR, Bauer BA, Yuan CS. Ephedra-containing dietary supplements in the US versus ephedra as a Chinese medicine. The American journal of Chinese medicine 2004. link 29 Porcelli PJ. An electronic documentation system increases diagnostic code capture for very low birth weight infants. Proceedings. AMIA Symposium 2001. link 30 Sazawal S, Black RE, Menon VP, Dinghra P, Caulfield LE, Dhingra U et al.. Zinc supplementation in infants born small for gestational age reduces mortality: a prospective, randomized, controlled trial. Pediatrics 2001. link 31 Hueston WJ. Prenatal care and low-birth-weight rates in urban and rural Wisconsin. The Journal of the American Board of Family Practice 1995. link 32 York R, Brooten D. Prevention of low birth weight. NAACOG's clinical issues in perinatal and women's health nursing 1992. link 33 Kamaladoss T, Abel R, Sampathkumar V. Epidemiological co-relates of low birth weight in rural Tamil Nadu. Indian journal of pediatrics 1992. link 34 Knudsen CJ, Grobler GP, Close RE. Inserting the distal screws in a locked femoral nail. The Journal of bone and joint surgery. British volume 1991. link 35 Taffel SM. Trends in low birth weight: United States, 1975-85. Vital and health statistics. Series 21, Data on natality, marriage, and divorce 1989. link 36 Robbins LJ. Evaluation of weight loss in the elderly. Geriatrics 1989. link 37 Klugkist J, Voorberg J, Haaker H, Veeger C. Characterization of three different flavodoxins from Azotobacter vinelandii. European journal of biochemistry 1986. link 38 Hursh LM. Food and water restriction in the wrestler. JAMA 1979. link 39 Kelly JM, Gorney BA, Kalm KK. The effects of a collegiate wrestling season on body composition, cardiovascular fitness and muscular strength and endurance. Medicine and science in sports 1978. link 40 Landwer GE, Johnson GO, Hammer RW. Weight control for high school wrestlers. The Journal of sports medicine 1975. link

    Original source

    1. [1]
      Disproportionality and time-to-onset analyses of drug-induced weight gain using the Japanese Adverse Drug Event Report database. — Ide N, Shibata R, Sako KI, Maeda T Drug discoveries & therapeutics (2026)
    2. [2]
      Determinants of low birth weight and its effect on childhood health and nutritional outcomes in Bangladesh. — Islam MZ, Chowdhury MRK, Kader M, Billah B, Islam MS, Rashid M Journal of health, population, and nutrition (2024)
    3. [3]
      Severe high-molecular-weight kininogen deficiency: clinical characteristics, deficiency-causing KNG1 variants, and estimated prevalence. — Adenaeuer A, Barco S, Trinchero A, Krutmann S, Nazir HF, Ambaglio C et al. Journal of thrombosis and haemostasis : JTH (2023)
    4. [4]
      Building a predictive model of low birth weight in low- and middle-income countries: a prospective cohort study. — Patterson JK, Thorsten VR, Eggleston B, Nolen T, Lokangaka A, Tshefu A et al. BMC pregnancy and childbirth (2023)
    5. [5]
      Mobile phones and infant health at birth. — Pesando LM, Qiyomiddin K PloS one (2023)
    6. [6]
      Regional with urban-rural variation in low birth weight and its determinants of Indian children: findings from National Family Health Survey 5 data. — Kundu RN, Ghosh A, Chhetri B, Saha I, Hossain MG, Bharati P BMC pregnancy and childbirth (2023)
    7. [7]
      Postnatal genetic and neurodevelopmental assessment in infants born at term with severely low birth weight of non-placental origin. — Paz Y Miño MF, Pauta M, Meler E, Matas I, Mazarico E, Camacho A et al. Ultrasound in obstetrics & gynecology : the official journal of the International Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology (2023)
    8. [8]
      Birth weight and adult earnings: a systematic review and meta-analysis. — Lambiris MJ, Blakstad MM, Perumal N, Danaei G, Bliznashka L, Fink G et al. Journal of developmental origins of health and disease (2022)
    9. [9]
      Hot off the press: SGEM#343: Weight bias in medicine. — Heitz C, Challen K, Milne WK Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine (2022)
    10. [10]
      Association between Total and Individual PCB Congener Levels in Maternal Serum and Birth Weight of Newborns: Results from the Chiba Study of Mother and Child Health Using Weighted Quantile Sum Regression. — Eguchi A, Sakurai K, Yamamoto M, Watanabe M, Hisada A, Takahashi T et al. International journal of environmental research and public health (2022)
    11. [11]
      Vitamin D status in very low birth weight infants and response to vitamin D intake during their NICU stays: a prospective cohort study. — Adnan M, Wu SY, Khilfeh M, Davis V Journal of perinatology : official journal of the California Perinatal Association (2022)
    12. [12]
      Exploring Strategies for Investigating the Mechanisms Linking Climate and Individual-Level Child Health Outcomes: An Analysis of Birth Weight in Mali. — Grace K, Verdin A, Dorélien A, Davenport F, Funk C, Husak G Demography (2021)
    13. [13]
      Vitamin D Status of Very Low Birth Weight Neonates at Baseline and Follow-up after Daily Intake of 800 IU Vitamin D. — Choudhury KA, Kumar M, Tripathi S, Singh SN, Singh K, Singh VK Journal of tropical pediatrics (2021)
    14. [14]
      The Combination of a Diversified Intake of Carbohydrates and Fats and Supplementation of Vitamin D in a Diet Does Not Affect the Levels of Hormones (Testosterone, Estradiol, and Cortisol) in Men Practicing Strength Training for the Duration of 12 Weeks. — Wrzosek M, Woźniak J, Włodarek D International journal of environmental research and public health (2020)
    15. [15]
      Invited Commentary: Is DNA Methylation an Actionable Mediator of Prenatal Exposure Effects on Child Health? — Ladd-Acosta C, Fallin MD American journal of epidemiology (2019)
    16. [16]
      Poorer outcomes of all low birth weight groups at age 10: Missouri statewide case-control study. — Hillman LS, Day LS, Hoffman HJ, Stockbauer JW Early human development (2019)
    17. [17]
      Low birth weight and childhood health: the role of maternal education. — Martinson ML, Choi KH Annals of epidemiology (2019)
    18. [18]
      Secular changes in the association between advanced maternal age and the risk of low birth weight: A cross-cohort comparison in the UK. — Goisis A, Schneider DC, Myrskylä M Population studies (2018)
    19. [19]
      Unintentional Weight Loss in Older Adults: A Geriatric Interprofessional Simulation Case Series for Health Care Providers. — Mulligan R, Gilmer-Scott M, Kouchel D, Nickelson D, Safavi A, Drickamer M et al. MedEdPORTAL : the journal of teaching and learning resources (2017)
    20. [20]
      Parent Language: A Predictor for Neurodevelopmental Follow-up Care Among Infants With Very Low Birth Weight. — Eneriz-Wiemer M, Saynina O, Sundaram V, Lee HC, Bhattacharya J, Sanders LM Academic pediatrics (2016)
    21. [21]
      The effect of neonatal vitamin A supplementation on growth in the first year of life among low-birth-weight infants in Guinea-Bissau: two by two factorial randomised controlled trial. — Biering-Sørensen S, Fisker AB, Ravn H, Camala L, Monteiro I, Aaby P et al. BMC pediatrics (2013)
    22. [22]
      Effect of vitamin D supplementation of low birth weight term Indian infants from birth on cytokine production at 6 months. — Trilok-Kumar G, Arora H, Rajput M, Chellani H, Singh V, Raynes J et al. European journal of clinical nutrition (2012)
    23. [23]
      The Küntscher Society: the South American perspective. — Callizo A Injury (2011)
    24. [24]
      Commercialism, choice and consumer protection: regulation of complementary medicines in Australia. — Harvey KJ, Korczak VS, Marron LJ, Newgreen DB The Medical journal of Australia (2008)
    25. [25]
      Arthroscopic removal of an intramedullary nail in the humerus. — Kim KC, Rhee KJ, Shin HD, Kim YM Knee surgery, sports traumatology, arthroscopy : official journal of the ESSKA (2007)
    26. [26]
      Precision in weighing: a comparison of scales found in physician offices, fitness centers, and weight loss centers. — Stein RJ, Haddock CK, Poston WS, Catanese D, Spertus JA Public health reports (Washington, D.C. : 1974) (2005)
    27. [27]
      Nutrition and low birth weight: from research to practice. — Ramakrishnan U The American journal of clinical nutrition (2004)
    28. [28]
      Ephedra-containing dietary supplements in the US versus ephedra as a Chinese medicine. — Mehendale SR, Bauer BA, Yuan CS The American journal of Chinese medicine (2004)
    29. [29]
      An electronic documentation system increases diagnostic code capture for very low birth weight infants. — Porcelli PJ Proceedings. AMIA Symposium (2001)
    30. [30]
      Zinc supplementation in infants born small for gestational age reduces mortality: a prospective, randomized, controlled trial. — Sazawal S, Black RE, Menon VP, Dinghra P, Caulfield LE, Dhingra U et al. Pediatrics (2001)
    31. [31]
      Prenatal care and low-birth-weight rates in urban and rural Wisconsin. — Hueston WJ The Journal of the American Board of Family Practice (1995)
    32. [32]
      Prevention of low birth weight. — York R, Brooten D NAACOG's clinical issues in perinatal and women's health nursing (1992)
    33. [33]
      Epidemiological co-relates of low birth weight in rural Tamil Nadu. — Kamaladoss T, Abel R, Sampathkumar V Indian journal of pediatrics (1992)
    34. [34]
      Inserting the distal screws in a locked femoral nail. — Knudsen CJ, Grobler GP, Close RE The Journal of bone and joint surgery. British volume (1991)
    35. [35]
      Trends in low birth weight: United States, 1975-85. — Taffel SM Vital and health statistics. Series 21, Data on natality, marriage, and divorce (1989)
    36. [36]
      Evaluation of weight loss in the elderly. — Robbins LJ Geriatrics (1989)
    37. [37]
      Characterization of three different flavodoxins from Azotobacter vinelandii. — Klugkist J, Voorberg J, Haaker H, Veeger C European journal of biochemistry (1986)
    38. [38]
      Food and water restriction in the wrestler. — Hursh LM JAMA (1979)
    39. [39]
      The effects of a collegiate wrestling season on body composition, cardiovascular fitness and muscular strength and endurance. — Kelly JM, Gorney BA, Kalm KK Medicine and science in sports (1978)
    40. [40]
      Weight control for high school wrestlers. — Landwer GE, Johnson GO, Hammer RW The Journal of sports medicine (1975)
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