Longitudinal Analysis of Body Dissatisfaction: the Desire to Be Thinner Among Women in Japan During Low-risk Pregnancies

Body dissatisfaction during pregnancy can significantly impact maternal and child health. Therefore, this longitudinal study investigated changes in body dissatisfaction using two figure rating scales developed from photographic digital data of Japanese pregnant women during the sixth and tenth months of pregnancy. Study participants were recruited at their sixth month prenatal visit at a primary maternity clinic in Japan from October 2014 to March 2015. Body dissatisfaction was estimated based on the perceived and ideal body sizes of 135 pregnant women, expressed as body mass index. Data were collected using self-administered questionnaires. The study found that body dissatisfaction in the tenth month was significantly higher than that in the sixth month. Among the participants, 75 (55.6%) and 79 (58.5%) experienced body dissatisfaction, desiring to be thinner (where perceived body size exceeded ideal body size) during the sixth and tenth months of pregnancy, respectively. Pregnant women who had body dissatisfaction and a desire to be thinner in the sixth month tended to experience an increase in body dissatisfaction by the tenth month compared to those without body dissatisfaction in the sixth month. During the sixth and tenth months, women with body dissatisfaction showed significantly larger perceived body sizes than those without body dissatisfaction. These results indicated that the use of a figure rating scale at the sixth month of pregnancy may help identify women with body dissatisfaction; moreover, perceived body size might be a key factor in preventing an increase in body dissatisfaction from the second to third trimesters.