Body Image Issues and Women

Body image refers to one’s perceptions of and thoughts, attitudes, and feelings about one’s physical appearance. When there is a discrepancy [Page 234]between how one would like to look and how one feels one actually looks, strong negative thoughts and feelings result. Negative feelings about one’s physical appearance can be broadly defined as body image disturbance. This disturbance exists in varying degrees, but researchers have found that overwhelming numbers of girls and women experience body image dissatisfaction to some extent. Such dissatisfaction has been associated with depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, substance abuse, and eating disorders. In fact, the connection between eating disorders and body image disturbance has been extensively studied, with researchers concluding that body dissatisfaction is one of the most empirically supported risk factors ...