Assessing the importance of relative body weight in shaping life satisfaction: Evidence from 1 million Americans

Physical activity improves body image of sedentary adults. Exploring the roles of interoception and affective response

To reduce the number of sedentary people, an improved understanding of effects of exercise in this specific group is needed. The present project investigates the impact of regular aerobic exercise uptake on body image, and how this effect is associated with differences in interoceptive abilities and affective response to exercise. Participants were 29 sedentary adults who underwent a 12-week aerobic physical activity intervention comprised of 30–36 sessions. Body image was improved with large effect sizes. Correlations were observed between affective response to physical activity and body image improvement, but not with interoceptive abilities. Explorative mediation models suggest a neglectable role of a priori interoceptive abilities. Instead, body image improvement was achieved when positive valence was assigned to interoceptive cues experienced during exercise.

The associations between relative and absolute body mass index with mortality rate based on predictions from stigma theory

Background

The social consequences of obesity may influence health and mortality rate (MR), given obesity's status as a highly stigmatized condition. Hence, a high absolute body mass index (BMI) in conjunction with the stigmatization of a high BMI may each independently increase the rate of MR.

Objectives

We tested whether relative BMI, defined as ordinal rank within a social reference group jointly defined by age, sex, and race/ethnicity, is associated with MR independent of absolute BMI.

Methods

Data were from three nationally representative datasets: the Health and Retirement Study (n = 31,115), the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS, n = 529,362), and the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (n = 31,115). Relative BMI kg/m2 deciles were calculated within twenty-four subgroups jointly defined by age (6 levels), sex (2 levels), and race/ethnicity (4 levels). The association between ordinal rank BMI and MR was assessed using Cox survival generalized additive models in each dataset with adjustments for age, race, sex, smoking, educational attainment, and absolute BMI.

Results

Absolute BMI had a significant non-monotonic association with MR, such that BMI was positively associated with mortality at BMI levels above approximately 25 kg/m2. Contrary to expectations, results from NHIS indicated that individuals in the first decile of relative BMI had the highest MR whereas relative BMI was not associated with MR in the NHANES and HRS.

Conclusion

We hypothesized that the stigmatization of obesity might lead to an increased MR after controlling for absolute BMI. Contrary to expectations, a higher relative BMI was not associated with an increased MR independent of absolute BMI.

Mass Media Beauty Standards, Body Surveillance, and Relationship Satisfaction within Romantic Couples

As part of objectification processes, individuals engage in body surveillance, whereby they constantly assess the extent to which their external appearance conforms to culturally valued ideals. Mass media play a key role in fostering the objectification and internalization of media beauty standards and increases body surveillance. At the individual level, the literature has largely demonstrated that body surveillance leads to a variety of negative psychological outcomes, but little research has focused on the consequences of body surveillance in the context of romantic relationships. Using dyadic data from couples who identified as heterosexual, the present study examined relations among internalization of media standards, body surveillance, surveillance of the partner’s body, surveillance from the partner, and relationship satisfaction. There were 438 participants (219 couples) recruited using snowball sampling. They were surveyed with an anonymous online questionnaire. Results showed that internalization of media standards was related to body surveillance in both men and women, and to surveillance of the partner’s body and relationship satisfaction in men only. For both sexes, surveillance of the partner’s body was negatively associated with relationship satisfaction. For women only, surveillance from the partner was also negatively related to relationship satisfaction. Implications are discussed.

The effects of relative body weight on socioemotional and schooling outcomes among female adolescents in the United States

RATIONALE

An extensive literature has shown that individuals, especially women, with higher body mass index (BMI) face a range of negative life outcomes. Most previous studies rely on absolute measures of body weight, such as BMI and obesity status, to estimate the social impact of body weight. Using absolute measures of body weight, however, is inconsistent with social-psychological theories that explain the effects of body weight because they conflate the social effects of body weight with biological processes of body weight.

OBJECTIVE

This study extends the literature by utilizing a relative measure of body weight, or a student's BMI rank within her relevant peer group, to examine the impact of body weight on youth outcomes.

METHODS

Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health and leveraging a quasi-experimental research design, this study examines the association between relative BMI and socioemotional and schooling outcomes among female adolescents in the United States.

RESULTS

Results show that female students with high relative BMI are more likely to experience a decrease in self-esteem and an increase in depressive symptoms, even after adjusting for absolute BMI and weight perceptions. These effects are partially explained by lower levels of school attachment (∼26% for self-esteem and ∼15% for depressive symptoms). This study also finds that relative BMI is associated with an increased risk of high school dropout, but not college attainment and completed years of schooling. The association between relative BMI and high school dropout is partially explained by a combination of lowered self-esteem (∼7%), increased depressive symptoms (∼12%), as well as a decline in academic achievement (∼33%) and aspirations (∼12%).

CONCLUSION

We argue that to better understand how body weight affects one' life outcomes, it is essential to take into consideration the social contexts in which one is embedded.