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: Lori Bonfitto
Date: 05/21/2009 - 11:48 am

Positive self image can never never never never ever in 100 million trillion years be hazardous to your health. Can negative self image be hazardous to your health? Yes. Always. Not only to your own health but to others. Let's ask all the fathers in the country who recently not only killed themselves but their entire families if having a negative self image is harmful. Oh, wait. We can't. Because they're dead. The problem with the premise of this research is that it supposes not having a realistic grasp on ones appearance, health or behavior can be construed as positive. It may seem positive. I'm sure Dick Cheney thinks highly o f himself. There's a difference between self acceptance and self deception.

And wanting to change your appearance, health or behavior does not mean you have a negative self or body image. I can love myself, look myself in the mirror and say, "You go Girl," for exactly the person I am now, and also say, "You know what, if I paid a little more attention to the portions I'm eating at dinner, I'd probably become lighter and my knees would feel better after playing tennis." Wow, I love myself even more for being able to hold two concepts in my mind at the same time!

From: Alyssa
Date: 05/20/2009 - 09:45 am

Kim and Nikki, A-MEN!!!!!!!

From: Kim Brittingham
Date: 05/20/2009 - 08:10 am

So when is Temple going to do a study where they pluck a bunch of slender, self-confident women off the street, put them through the most exhaustive battery of health tests known to mankind, and publish THOSE results? Because I'm sure there are just as many "thin" women out there walking around with their heads in the clouds who have health issues lurking just beneath that "healthy-looking" surface.

Now THERE'S a study that might actually be worth the funding it gets. Because for the most part, fat people are accustomed to being classified as ticking time bombs, health-wise. But there are many, many more thin women who've been brainwashed into thinking that thin=healthy and fat=sick, so by keeping their weight in check, they mistakenly believe they're A-OK.

Then when that size 6 gets rushed to the hospital with a heart attack, everyone is stunned.

Or when your jogging, Lean Cuisine-eating neighbor has to go on meds to reduce her cholestrol, she gets angry, asks herself "why me?", and suddenly gets very snippy with her fat sister, who can't figure out what the heck she said.

How many bikini bodies are out there feeling so chuffed for being the very portrait of youthful health and vitality, that they don't feel any urgency about getting regular health screenings (hey, that stuff's for people who are old or fat), so they're unaware of the cancer that's growing more incurable every day inside them?

How about the gals who keep their weight down by purging? Who don't stop to think what all that vomiting is doing to their insides (at the very least, eroding their esophagus away)? Who want to believe they're "untouchable" by disease as long as they're thin and pretty?

That Temple study was conceived by a complete moron, someone who's bought into the commercial bullsh*t as much as anyone else. They aren't broad-minded enough to consider the flip-side of the argument, and thereby discovering an even more urgent problem: thin people who mistakenly think they're invinceable.

I can't help wondering if someone, anyone behind this study has a secret beef with confident fat women. After all, there are those chicks out there who work very hard to maintain thin bodies; bodies that appear fit and are perceived as beautiful according to the prevailing standard. They spend countless hours at the gym, sacrifice every sweet or fattening thing that drifts by, deny themselves so much to be thin, and quite possibly are miserable as a result. And they resent fat women with full, rewarding lives, because it looks like they get to be happy and they don't even have to work for it. It's not FAIR!

This study also seems to assume that confident fat women must be clueless. That we're all gluttons who don't care if we drop dead while rolling around in inflatable baby pools full of Nutella, which we certainly all have in our living rooms. That we don't understand the concept of moderation. That we aren't aware of the value of exercise. How disgustingly prejudicial.

From: Nikki aka Miss N
Date: 05/20/2009 - 07:28 am

I just had a Hispanic 7 year old in my class say her legs were fat so she needed to exercise. When I pulled her aside to ask what was up, she said, "Well my mom is on a diet." Eh. I think crappy body image affects all cultures. (And yes, the little girl got the "People come in all different shapes and sizes and you're gorgeous no matter what your size is" talk. I actually believe that, btw.)

From: Sonn
Date: 05/19/2009 - 10:43 pm

F*ck 'em.

Sorry but it's the best term I can come up with!

I am obese... in fact I am morbidly obese, super-sized, my BMI is in the 50's. I eat well and play hard. I have a great life including a family. And hey - imagine this - my blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar, triglycerides, heart rate and so on are all always perfect. As my GP said to me: "I ran your lab work three times just to make sure I wasn't seeing things. If a 20 year old professional athlete walked in here for a physical I could never hope to get results back on them as good as yours."

Soooo am I just supposed to feel bad about myself and hate my body anyway then? No, sorry. Been there, done that. Life is too short. I will continue to make good choices and do everything I can to stay healthy. I take my meds, I see my doctors for my endocrine stuff that keeps me fat, I eat good quality healthy foods in a limited amount of calories AND enjoy them, I'll move and enjoy my body, and I'll be happy. Other people are often bothered by my size, I understand that. Sometimes they say things to me and sometimes that makes me feel bad. But I'm going to keep trying to feel good about my accomplishments and about being a good person and about staying healthy to be a good role model for my girls. Not beating myself up for no reason.

I do think people of all sizes should be encouraged to keep up with healthy behaviors, sure. I am a medical professional myself, and I often tell my patients (of all sizes, ages, and abilities) to eat nutrient rich foods and stay active any way they can. That's just common sense! No one should be encouraged to eat junk food or stop exercising... OR to have a lower self image. Those are all dangerous and damaging behaviors.