Body Appreciation and Appearance Evaluation in Individuals with Obesity Compared to Individuals with Normal-weight: Findings from a Representative German Population Sample

Overview

Journal Eat Weight Disord

Publisher Springer

Date 2020 Dec 5

PMID 33278021

Citations 3

Authors

Natascha-Alexandra Weinberger

Claudia Luck-Sikorski

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Purpose: Body image has been identified as an important factor in mental health in individuals with obesity. Previous studies have focused on negative body image and research of positive body image-particularly in obesity-is still in its infancy. The current study explored the positive body image facet body appreciation and the negative facet appearance evaluation in different BMI groups as well as men and women.

Methods: A total of 1003 participants of the general German public above the age of 18 years completed measures on body appreciation and appearance evaluation.

Results: Significantly lower body appreciation was observed in male participants with obesity compared to normal-weight participants. In women, the BMI groups did not differ significantly in body appreciation. BMI was negatively associated with appearance evaluation in both genders. While men and women did not differ in body appreciation, men reported lower appearance evaluation scores compared to women.

Conclusion: The present study is one of few that investigated positive body image in individuals with obesity compared to individuals with normal weight. The findings underscore the potential of body appreciation as a resource in treatment of body image concerns in individuals with obesity. Further implications for future research are discussed.

Level Of Evidence: III, case-control analytic study.

Citing Articles

Gender and age specific dynamics of health-related postoperative outcome measures following the laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy.

Shahbazyan S, Mirijanyan M, Badalova Z, Ter-Avetikyan Z Surg Open Sci. 2024; 22:67-73.

PMID: 39584026 PMC: 11585729. DOI: 10.1016/j.sopen.2024.10.007.

Saudi Adults' Understanding and Views of Weight Management Practices and Obesity.

Alshehri F, Alorfi N Diabetes Metab Syndr Obes. 2023; 16:3513-3531.

PMID: 37954890 PMC: 10637233. DOI: 10.2147/DMSO.S433721.

The Effect of Social Media Usage, Appearance-Related Social Media Pressure and Body Mass Index on Body Appreciation of Cosmetic Procedure Patients.

Sonmez M, Esiyok E Aesthetic Plast Surg. 2023; 47(6):2711-2718.

PMID: 37737876 DOI: 10.1007/s00266-023-03654-y.

References

Schwartz M, Brownell K . Obesity and body image. Body Image. 2007; 1(1):43-56. DOI: 10.1016/S1740-1445(03)00007-X. View

Olson K, Thaxton T, Emery C . Targeting body dissatisfaction among women with overweight or obesity: A proof-of-concept pilot study. Int J Eat Disord. 2018; 51(8):973-977. PMC: 6214799. DOI: 10.1002/eat.22874. View

Halliwell E . The impact of thin idealized media images on body satisfaction: does body appreciation protect women from negative effects?. Body Image. 2013; 10(4):509-14. DOI: 10.1016/j.bodyim.2013.07.004. View

Rajan T, Menon V . Psychiatric disorders and obesity: A review of association studies. J Postgrad Med. 2017; 63(3):182-190. PMC: 5525483. DOI: 10.4103/jpgm.JPGM_712_16. View

Maukonen M, Mannisto S, Tolonen H . A comparison of measured versus self-reported anthropometrics for assessing obesity in adults: a literature review. Scand J Public Health. 2018; 46(5):565-579. DOI: 10.1177/1403494818761971. View

Homan K, Tylka T . Appearance-based exercise motivation moderates the relationship between exercise frequency and positive body image. Body Image. 2014; 11(2):101-8. DOI: 10.1016/j.bodyim.2014.01.003. View

Molbert S, Klein L, Thaler A, Mohler B, Brozzo C, Martus P . Depictive and metric body size estimation in anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Clin Psychol Rev. 2017; 57:21-31. DOI: 10.1016/j.cpr.2017.08.005. View

Rawana J, McPhie M, Hassibi B . Eating- and weight-related factors associated with depressive symptoms in emerging adulthood. Eat Behav. 2016; 22:101-108. DOI: 10.1016/j.eatbeh.2016.04.002. View

Grilo C, Masheb R, Brody M, Burke-Martindale C, Rothschild B . Binge eating and self-esteem predict body image dissatisfaction among obese men and women seeking bariatric surgery. Int J Eat Disord. 2005; 37(4):347-51. DOI: 10.1002/eat.20130. View

10.

Wu Y, Berry D . Impact of weight stigma on physiological and psychological health outcomes for overweight and obese adults: A systematic review. J Adv Nurs. 2017; 74(5):1030-1042. DOI: 10.1111/jan.13511. View

11.

Tylka T, Wood-Barcalow N . What is and what is not positive body image? Conceptual foundations and construct definition. Body Image. 2015; 14:118-29. DOI: 10.1016/j.bodyim.2015.04.001. View

12.

Stice E, Marti C, Durant S . Risk factors for onset of eating disorders: evidence of multiple risk pathways from an 8-year prospective study. Behav Res Ther. 2011; 49(10):622-7. PMC: 4007152. DOI: 10.1016/j.brat.2011.06.009. View

13.

Algars M, Santtila P, Varjonen M, Witting K, Johansson A, Jern P . The adult body: how age, gender, and body mass index are related to body image. J Aging Health. 2009; 21(8):1112-32. DOI: 10.1177/0898264309348023. View

14.

Friedman K, Reichmann S, Costanzo P, Musante G . Body image partially mediates the relationship between obesity and psychological distress. Obes Res. 2002; 10(1):33-41. DOI: 10.1038/oby.2002.5. View

15.

Vieira P, Palmeira A, Mata J, Kolotkin R, Silva M, Sardinha L . Usefulness of standard BMI cut-offs for quality of life and psychological well-being in women. Obes Facts. 2012; 5(6):795-805. DOI: 10.1159/000345778. View

16.

Quittkat H, Hartmann A, Dusing R, Buhlmann U, Vocks S . Body Dissatisfaction, Importance of Appearance, and Body Appreciation in Men and Women Over the Lifespan. Front Psychiatry. 2020; 10:864. PMC: 6928134. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2019.00864. View

17.

Tylka T, Wood-Barcalow N . The Body Appreciation Scale-2: item refinement and psychometric evaluation. Body Image. 2014; 12:53-67. DOI: 10.1016/j.bodyim.2014.09.006. View

18.

Razmus M . Body appreciation and body-related pride in normal-weight and overweight/obese individuals: Does romantic relationship matter?. Perspect Psychiatr Care. 2018; 55(3):464-470. DOI: 10.1111/ppc.12343. View

19.

Winter V, Gillen M, Cahill L, Jones A, Ward M . Body appreciation, anxiety, and depression among a racially diverse sample of women. J Health Psychol. 2017; 24(11):1517-1525. DOI: 10.1177/1359105317728575. View

20.

Fallon E, Harris B, Johnson P . Prevalence of body dissatisfaction among a United States adult sample. Eat Behav. 2014; 15(1):151-8. DOI: 10.1016/j.eatbeh.2013.11.007. View