Fat talk, old talk, or both? Association of negative body talk with mental health, body dissatisfaction, and quality of life in men and women

The term “negative body talk” is used to describe the negative things people sometimes say about their bodies and appearance. Two kinds of negative body talk are fat talk (critical and negative talk about weight-related body image) and old talk (negative body talk focused on changes due to aging). Fat talk has been widely studied and found to be related to poorer mental health, including body dissatisfaction and eating disorders. However, old talk has been much less studied though it is both similar and distinct from fat talk. The current study examined how both old talk and fat talk related to mental health and quality of life in adults across the lifespan. We found that both were correlated with poorer mental health, but when compared to one another, fat talk was more related to mental health in both men and women. Of note, age appears to impact these relationships in men, but not in women. It is important for future research to examine why age seems to influence the impact old talk and fat talk have on mental health and further evaluate the similarities and differences between these two types of negative body talk.