BODY IMAGE

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BODY IMAGE
Ryan OMara Ramin Nadjafi Nicole Milana Elizabeth
Basile Justine Elfrink
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Objectives

• Define Body Image
• Determine why a positive body image is important
  to overall health
• Determine associations of negative body image
• Identify warning signs and symptoms of negative
  body image
• Identify ways to improve body image

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Defining Body Image
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Marilyn Monroe
Pamela Anderson
Weight 140 lbs. Waste size 12 Bra size 36 C
Weight 114 lbs. Waste size 2 Bra size 34 DD
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Then
Now
Different Ideals, Same Problem
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History of Body Image

• Body Image, pre-1950
• Referred to war-related neuropathic conditions
• distorted perceptions induced by brain (Berklow,
  1997)
• example phantom limb

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History of Body Image

• Body Image, 1950s-Today
• Definition underwent transformation in 1950s
• Physiologists upgraded study of body image
• Contemporary concept of body image (BI) is
  relatively new
  (Cash and Pruzinsky, 1990)

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Challenging Limiting Perceptions

• Limiting Perception Female Only
• Psychology/psychiatry dominate field of study
• focus on eating disorders among young women
• associate BI mostly with the weight and shape of
  females

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Challenging Limiting Perceptions

• Limiting Perception Female Only
• Males also subject to BI

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Governor of California
I am the Governator!
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Challenging Limiting Perceptions

• Limiting Perception Male vs. Female Only
• BI covers more than gender-specific paradigms

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Challenging Limiting Perceptions

• change in appearance due to condition or
  treatment can drastically effect persons BI
• cancer
• skin disease
• burn
• accident

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Definition of Body Image

• BI includes
• perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors related
  toward ones body for any reason (Cash, 2004)

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Determining why a positive body image is
important to overall health
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Body image influences

• Behavior
• Self-esteem - a personal evaluation of ones
  worth as a person. It measures how much you
  respect yourself and is directly related to body
  image (Eating Disorder Referral and Information
  Center, 1995)
• Psyche

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Self-esteem

• Physically how happy you are with how you look
• Intellectually how well you feel you can
  accomplish your goals
• Emotionally how much you feel loved
• Morally how you think of yourself as a person
• High self esteem makes for a happier life!

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Negative body image

• Satisfaction and mood plummets
• Sense of self becomes unhealthy
• Lose confidence in abilities
• Problems in areas, including sexuality, careers
  and relationships.
• Loss of self confidence
  "To lose confidence in
  one's body is to lose confidence in one's self"
  -Simone de Beauvoir (Women and Body Image, 2000)
• Loss of self respect
• Low self-esteem

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Body Image and emotional health

• What is emotional health?
  (family doctor.org, 2000)
• Control of thoughts, feelings and behavior
• Can cope with stress and problems
• Keep problems in perspective
• Know when to seek help from doctor/counselor

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Body image and emotional health

• Poor body image leads to poor emotional health
• Stressors friends, boys, parents, media
• Unable to keep problems in perspective
• Body dimorphic disorder
• Doesnt see a doctor/counselor when sick
• Eating disorders
• Emotionally depressed

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Body image andemotional health

• Poor emotional health effects
  (family doctor.org, 2000)
• Distress
• Lowers immune system making a person more
  susceptible to disease
• Anxiety can lead to other complications such as
  high blood pressure

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Physical effect of a negative body image

• Unhealthy dieting
• Anorexia
• Bulimia
• Yo-yo dieting
• Insufficient nutrients
• Over exercising
• (Teen Health, 2000)

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Determine associations of negative body image
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The media

• Socio-cultural messages exposure to the thin
  ideal produces depression, shame, guilt, body
  dissatisfaction, and stress
• Media promotes current mainstream cultures
  standards for body shape or size and importance
  of beauty
• Media message if you try hard enough, spend
  enough, suffer enough, you can have the look you
  want

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The media

• Direct relationship between media exposure and
  eating disorder symptoms (Dittrich, 2005)
• Study 14-18 year old girls exposed to images and
  then valuate themselves
• Women compare themselves to images of women even
  when they are not asked to do so

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Television and Movies

• Children spend more time watching TV than they do
  in school
• American children spend 22-28 hrs. a week
  watching TV
• At age 70, Americans will have spent 7-10 years
  of their life watching TV
• Television and movies reinforce the importance of
  a thin body as a measure of womans worth
  (Gerber, 2005)
• Over 75 of female characters on TV are
  underweight and only 20 are above average in size

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Magazines and advertisements message of thin is
in

• In 48 issues of womens magazines 63 diet food
  ads were found as compared to only 1 in 48 issues
  of mens magazines
• 70 of women feel more depression, self-loathing,
  and shame at their bodies after looking at
  fashion magazines (Nielson, 2004)
• Over 75 of the covers of womens magazines
  include at least one message about how to change
  a womens bodily appearance by diet, exercise, or
  cosmetic surgery (Gerber, 2005)

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Puberty

• Most teens struggle with their self esteem
  beginning at the onset of puberty (Rutherford,
  2001)
• Unhealthy crash dieting and eating disorders
  often develop around this time in girls
• Boys going through puberty may become obsessed
  with weight training and steroid use

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Identifying warning signs and symptoms of
negative body image
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Warning Signs

• Sudden weight loss
• Skipping meals
• Eating in secret
• Stomach upset or bloating following meals
• Constipation or diarrhea
• Constantly viewing themselves in comparison to
  others
• Compulsively weighing themselves

• Depression and Anxiety
• Weakness or dizziness
• An intolerance to cold
• Frequent visits to the bathroom after meals
• Fixating upon and overemphasizing certain body
  parts
• Commenting frequently on other people's
  appearances and/or body shapes

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Warning Sings Cont.

• Frequently viewing their appearances in mirrors
• Excessive or abnormal exercise routine or dieting
  excessively
• Disordered eating habits or refusing to eat all
  together

• Unrealistic beauty standards The person is
  likely to be extremely critical of themselves and
  of their peers.
• Very low self-esteem
• Using diet or laxative pills
• In females, a loss of menstruation.

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Identifying ways to improve body image
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Understanding an individuals body image

• Body image is ever changing sensitive to mood,
  environment, and physical experience.
  (psychotherapist, 1999)
• It is a learned judgment the learning occurs
  from the family and peers. (psychotherapist,
  1999)
• Genetics does play a role in your body and at
  least 25 to 70 of your body is determined by
  your genes. (Center for Change, 1995)

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Developing a Healthy Body Image

• Listen to your body. Eat when you are hungry.
• Exercise regularly in an enjoyable way,
  regardless of size.
• Expect normal weekly and monthly changes in
  weight and shape
• Ask for support and encouragement from friends
  and family when life is stressful.
• Decide how you wish to spend your energy pursuing
  the "perfect body image" or enjoying family,
  friends, school and, most importantly, life
• (psychotherapist, 1999)