Too Much of a Good Thing: Can Positive Self-Image Hurt Your Health?

May 19, 2009

Lots of us have friends or know women who are plus-sized and love it. They rock their curves and flaunt their bods in figure-conscious clothes. They eat what they want and don’t apologize for it. They don’t chastise themselves by saying things like, “I was so bad!” after indulging in a chocolate bar or skipping the gym for a day. This might even be you.

Here at NeverSayDiet, I’d think the prevailing thought when it comes to these women is, “You go, girl!” But what if the woman is legitimately overweight, not just “curvy” or “plus-sized-as-in-Size-12-so-not-really-plus-sized”? Say she’s 50 pounds overweight but still loves her physique, is uber-confident and happy and wouldn’t know a body image struggle If it smacked her in her ample behind? Do we want to encourage the woman who loves herself, is overweight and may actually be endangering her health?

A new study out of Temple University shows that, for these ladies, having an extremely high body image can lead to health problems. Researchers studied the body image perceptions of 81 underweight, normal weight, overweight or obese women in the North Philadelphia area and found that as their body mass index (BMI) increased, two-thirds of the women still felt they were at an ideal body size.

“So the question for doctors then becomes, ‘How can we effectively treat our overweight and obese patients, when they don’t feel they’re in harm’s way?’” said study researcher Marisa Rose, MD, Assistant Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences in the Temple University School of Medicine. “It stresses a need for culturally sensitive education for this population.”

All women had their height and weight measured and completed an anonymous survey to determine their self-perceived, current and ideal body sizes. Each woman was then shown an illustration of different-sized women that correlated with increasing BMIs, and were asked which size they felt they were at currently, and what their ideal would be.

What the researchers found: While most of the participants selected illustrations of women in the normal to overweight range, about 20 percent of the obese women selected an overweight or obese silhouette as their ideal body shape. 68% (15 out of 22) of overweight participants and 84% (26 out of 31) of obese women underestimated their current BMI.

Interestingly, African-American and Hispanic women had significantly underestimated their current body size, while the white women overestimated.

This last finding is worth discussion, I think. From the way it’s portrayed in TV, movies, and just plain everyday life, there’s definitely a pervasive feeling that African-American and Hispanic women are “allowed” to be heavier, and are in fact praised for their bigger bodies. I recently spoke at a Big 10 university about body image and a freshman woman, who was black, told me that she feels unattractive and hates her body because she’s “too thin.” Meanwhile, the rest of the audience was packed with white women who spoke of the pressure to constantly work out, to be crazy thin and have teeny tiny (but still curvy!) butts and washboard abs and hips and boobs but skinny, yoga-toned arms, preferably set off by a visible collarbone.

Have you felt or observed this cultural difference? Maybe you have a friend who’s Mexican and is always trying to enhance her booty. Or maybe you’re African-American and are sick and tired of your white girlfriend constantly complaining about how fat she is. Speak up! Also, feel free to weigh in on the “heavy women have better body images” theory.
PR I’m off to the All-Candy Expo, aka my personal nirvana. Will report back tomorrow!

Comments

From: Anonymous.Poster
Date: 06/04/2009 - 06:51 am

Wow. Kim....I totally agree with you.

If a woman is taking care of herself...and is happy....to me she is healthy....

I am so sick and tired of people's warped perceptions of size....equating size with a person's worth , beauty, and health....

From: Anonymous.Poster
Date: 05/27/2009 - 12:37 pm

I think i read somewhere that your health starts becoming an issue if your waistline is larger than your hips. in other words muffin-topping and pot bellys. im not suggesting 100% flat abs or anything, but if your tummy starts buldging out over your hips thats when problems like diabetes, heart conditions, bowel conditions etc start coming into play.

From: Maria Diaz
Date: 05/22/2009 - 12:57 pm

I find this post patently offensive and irresponsible. Trust me, no one is suffering from having TOO HIGH of a body image. The cult of thin and its pressures are overwhelming and never ending and extremely destructive to the lives of women, who dedicate an obsessive amount of time to their looks and dieting. Time that could be spent on other pursuits. To suggest that a fat woman who *horror of horrors* feels good about herself in a society and culture that hates her should stop liking herself so she can diet herself into the farce that is the BMI is disgusting.

From: Kim Brittingham
Date: 05/22/2009 - 11:13 am

The more I think about this post, the angrier I get.

It seems to me, the object of the study was to see what body shapes/sizes the participants perceived as "ideal". It doesn't say whether or not that "ideal" is based on a perception of health, beauty, or a combination of the two. But based on the researcher's comments, I'm going to assume their focus was on the health risks of obesity.

Besides the fact that we can't be sure what health issues any obese individual does or doesn't have, this study was still designed, in its own misguided way, to save fat people from themselves, health-wise.

It was Never Say Diet's decision, however, to twist the Temple study into a self-esteem issue.

Never Say Diet is the entity questioning whether or not the fact that these women feel good about themselves is a good thing.

Leslie, normally I have immense respect for you and your writing, but I'm really disappointed in you this time. You talk about the woman we may know who's fat and "wouldn't know a body image struggle if it smacked her in her ample behind". Then you turn immediately to the Temple study -- as if one thing really has anything to do with the other.

If a participant in the Temple study identifies an obese figure as "ideal", beauty-wise, who are we to judge her? Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. And if she herself is obese and sees beauty in it, more power to her. How dare we tell her that she's wrong.

If a participant in the Temple study identifies an obese figure as "healthy", we can't exactly tell her she's wrong. There are far fewer health risks in obesity itself than what is generally believed to be true. The worst we can say about her is that perhaps she could use more information.

Perhaps she has all the information she needs to stay healthy, eats well and exercises, and is still obese, and perhaps always will be. Does this mean that we, as her good friends, need to pull her aside and say something to curtail that healthy self-image of hers?

Perhaps she has all the information she needs to stay healthy, but chooses not to eat well or exercise. Or perhaps she tries, but struggles. Does this mean we need to keep her ego in check, make sure she feels like a sh*t-eating freak until the day she dies?

I can't believe you're even asking the question: "Do we want to encourage the woman who loves herself, is overweight and may actually be endangering her health?" Of course not! We want to punish her for scalding our oh-so-sensitive eyeballs with the grotesque vision of her that she's so unfairly imposing upon us every time she steps out of her junkfood wrapper-littered hovel. After all, people like that should be beaten down until they conform, withdraw from the world in shame, or perish. Right?

Beauty and health are not as simple and clear-cut as, say, the image of Jillian Michaels. But we all deserve to feel good about ourselves. We all deserve every moment of joy we can squeeze out of an otherwise harsh world. And we sure as hell don't need sites like Never Say Diet masquerading as friends to womankind blatantly pushing the message, day after day after day, that we're all still too large and too flabby to be a valued part of this world. Who do you think you are, NSD? And what have you done with the real Leslie Goldman?

Sincerely,

Kim Brittingham

From: JavaChick
Date: 05/21/2009 - 01:54 pm

I think it's not that simple.

It is quite possible to live a healthy lifestyle and still be overweight. In that case I see nothing wrong with feeling good about yourself. But if a person is not making any attempt to live a healthy lifestyle, then I don't think it is such a good thing - then it's more like burying your head in the sand. Just like it is possible to be slim and not living a healthy lifestyle.

Maybe it comes down to being honest with yourself. Yes, you should care about your health. Is your health directly related to your weight? Maybe not. But sometimes there is some correlation there and if you are honest with yourself, you probably know whether you are doing what you need to be doing to take care of yourself.