Beyond adolescence

Association Between Internet Use and Body Dissatisfaction Among Young Females: Cross-Sectional Analysis of the Canadian Community Health Survey

Background

Recent research suggests Internet exposure, including Facebook use, is positively correlated with body dissatisfaction, especially among girls and young women. Canada has one of the highest Internet access rates in the world, yet no previous study has examined this relationship using nationally representative data.

Objective

Our objective was to evaluate the relationship between Internet use and body dissatisfaction among a national, population-based sample of Canadian females 12-29 years of age.

Methods

We used cross-sectional data from the Canadian Community Health Survey 2011-2012. Body dissatisfaction was measured using a 5-point Likert scale and defined as “very dissatisfied/dissatisfied” with one’s body. The explanatory variable was time spent using the Internet per week in the past 3 months, ranging from none/<1 hour to >20 hours. We used multinomial logistic regression to investigate whether greater Internet use was associated with increasing odds of being very dissatisfied/dissatisfied, neutral, or satisfied with one’s body, using very satisfied as the referent. Probability survey sampling weights were applied to all analyses.

Results

Of 2983 included participants, sampled to represent 940,786 young Canadian females, most were 20-29 years old (61.98%) and living in households with an annual income Can $80,000 or more (44.61%). The prevalence of body dissatisfaction was 14.70%, and 25- to 29-year-olds were more likely than 12- to 14-year-olds to be very dissatisfied or dissatisfied with their body (20.76% vs 6.34%). Few (5.01%) reported none/<1 hour of Internet use, over half (56.93%) reported 1-10 hours, and one-fifth (19.52%) reported spending >20 hours online per week. Adjusting for age and income, the odds of being very dissatisfied/dissatisfied, relative to very satisfied, were greater in the highest versus lowest Internet use group (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 3.03, 95% CI 1.19-7.70). The AORs for this level of body dissatisfaction increased across increasing levels of Internet use, ranging from 0.88 (95% CI 0.35-2.21) to 3.03 (95% CI 1.19-7.70). Additionally, those who spent 11-14 hours online were more likely to be neutral (AOR 3.66, 95% CI 1.17-11.45) and those who spent 15-20 hours online were more likely to be neutral (AOR 4.36, 95% CI 1.18-16.13) or satisfied (AOR 2.82, 95% CI 1.14-7.01) with their bodies, relative to very satisfied, compared with those spending no time or <1 hour online.

Conclusions

A substantial proportion of Canadian females 12-29 years of age spent large amounts of time (>20 hours) on the Internet each week, and body dissatisfaction was significantly more likely among this group. Those who spent 11-20 hours online were also more likely to be less satisfied with their bodies. Efforts are needed to support girls and young women to achieve and maintain a positive body image in today’s digital age.

Health-related quality of life and sense of coherence among people with obesity: Important factors for health management

OBJECTIVES

The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether health-related quality of life and levels of sense of coherence among people with obesity are correlated with body mass index, age, and gender.

METHODS

A cross-sectional, descriptive research design was used. Subjects (n = 157) were selected from a sample of participants in an ongoing survey and had a body mass index >30 kg/m(2). Data were collected using the Short Form-36 Health Survey and the Sense of Coherence Scale.

RESULTS

The mean body mass index of women was higher than that of men. Compared to men, a greater proportion of women had a low sense of coherence. There was a significant relationship between low physical health and high body mass index. Female gender and older age correlated with a low sense of coherence and showed a significant association with high body mass index.

CONCLUSION

To increase the health-related quality of life, people with obesity need support to help manage their life situation based on their individual needs and personal resources.

Disordered eating in women: implications for the obesity pandemic

Contemporary Western society emphasizes thinness for women, and the ideal female body size has become progressively smaller over the past half century. Meanwhile, the actual female body size has increased steadily, and rates of aberrant attitudes and behaviours surrounding food and weight have risen and tend to be much more common in overweight individuals. Thus disordered eating and excess body weight may perpetuate each other's development. We have synthesized the literature concerning female body size and disordered eating within a sociocultural context. Eight cognitions and behaviours that occur in women were examined: media exposure, weight stereotypes, body dissatisfaction, dieting, "fat talk," emotional eating, perfectionism, and the "superwoman" ideal. The research literature suggests that these factors may play a role in both disordered eating and obesity. Furthermore, these factors may induce triggers, exacerbated by perfectionism and excess weight, that increase the risk of binge eating. These triggers include interpersonal discrepancies, low interpersonal esteem, depressive affect, and dietary restraint. Comprehensive interventions targeting the indicated sociocultural cognitions and behaviours, combined with healthy living education, may be the most effective strategy for reducing the prevalence of disordered eating and obesity among females.

Dual conversations: body talk among young women and their social contacts

In this article, we explore an area little researched within the literature on body dissatisfaction: the content and functions of body talk. We interviewed 60 diverse, college-educated women aged 18 to 30 in the urban United States about how social contacts talked about their bodies. Half the women, and by their reports, half their contacts (N = 295) endorsed some ideal body, most often the thin model. The other half favored a "healthy," "average" range in body size, shape, and/or appearance. Excepting family members, contacts gave mostly positive comments about women's bodies or appearance, or made no comments. Many critiqued their own bodies, however, as did nearly half the women participants. We suggest that these women exempted others, but not themselves, from critical body surveillance, rendering contestation of the ideal theoretical. We also suggest that the parallel airing of self-criticism repeatedly circulated through speech, if not through practice, the imperative to regulate one's own gendered body toward unattainable normativity.

Perceived weight status may contribute to education inequalities in five-year weight change among mid-aged women

OBJECTIVES

To examine education differences in five-year weight change among mid-aged adults, and to ascertain if this may be due to socioeconomic differences in perceived weight status or weight control behaviours (WCBs).

METHODS

Data were used from the Australian Diabetes, Obesity and Lifestyle Study. Mid-aged men and women with measured weights at both baseline (1999-2000) and follow-up (2004-2005) were included. Percent weight change over the five-year interval was calculated and perceived weight status, WCBs and highest attained education were collected at baseline.

RESULTS

Low-educated men and women were more likely to be obese at baseline compared to their high-educated counterparts. Women with a certificate-level education had a greater five-year weight gain than those with a bachelor degree or higher. Perceived weight status or WCBs did not differ by education among men and women, however participants that perceived themselves as very overweight had less weight gain than those perceiving themselves as underweight or normal weight. WCBs were not associated with five-year weight change.

CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS

The higher prevalence of overweight/obesity among low-educated women may be a consequence of greater weight gain in mid-adulthood. Education inequalities in overweight/obesity among men and women made be due (in part) to overweight or obese individuals in low-educated groups not perceiving themselves as having a weight problem.

Highlighting media modifications: can a television commercial mitigate the effects of music videos on female appearance satisfaction?

Exposure to idealized media portrayals of women induces appearance dissatisfaction in females, in the short term. Interventions that highlight the artificial nature of media portrayals can mitigate this effect. The present research investigated whether a 75 second television commercial, that demonstrates behind-the-scenes techniques used to artificially enhance media models, could be similarly effective. Eighty-seven Caucasian female undergraduates were randomly assigned to one of three conditions. The first group viewed music videos and ordinary television commercials. A second group viewed the same music videos and the "intervention" commercial. A final, control, group viewed television and commercials featuring no people. Viewing music videos resulted in significantly lower levels of self-reported appearance satisfaction compared to viewing control television, p<.05, d=-.67. However, exposure to the intervention commercial counter-acted this effect. Demonstrating the extent to which media portrayals of women are artificially enhanced can mitigate detrimental effects on female appearance satisfaction.

The bias in self-reported obesity from 1976 to 2005: a Canada-US comparison

The objective of this study was to determine whether the bias in self-reported estimates of obesity has changed over time and followed different patterns in Canada and the United States. Using age-standardized data from three waves of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) in the United States and the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) and the Canadian Heart Health Survey (CHHS) in Canada, discrepancies were compared between reported and measured estimates of height, weight, and obesity (based on the BMI) from 1976 to 2005. Results indicated that obesity increased in both countries, but rates were higher in the United States. The discrepancy between self-reported and measured obesity was small in the United States with reported data underestimating measured prevalence by about 3%; this stayed relatively constant over time. In Canada, the discrepancy was large and doubled in the past decade (from 4 to 8%). In the United States, self-reported data may be more accurate in monitoring changes in obesity over time, as the estimates have consistently remained about 3% below the measured estimates, whereas in Canada, monitoring obesity based solely on self-reported height and weight may produce inaccurate estimates because of the increasing discrepancy between self-reported and measured data.