Body image is a construct that comprises thoughts, feelings and behaviours of an individual in relation to aesthetic and functional attributes of the body. A healthy body image means that you feel good about the way you look and comfortable in your own appearance including different aspects such as height, weight and age, among others. Negative body image is prevalent in women and may be characterized by feelings of dissatisfaction and frustration, by a persistent preoccupation and overinvestment in body change and may led to avoidance behaviours. Recent findings show that body dissatisfaction and importance of appearance is higher in women than in men and remain stable across age in women although the importance of appearance is higher in younger women compared to older women. Girls are more likely to have negative image than boys mainly due to the pressure to measure up to strict and unrealistic social beauty ideal what may lead to a poor body image.
Women with a positive body image are more likely to have good physical and mental health. Girls and women with negative thoughts and feelings about their bodies are more likely to develop certain mental health conditions and it is also recognized as a distressing mental health problem in everyday life. Associations between negative body image and psychopathologies, depression, anxiety and eating disorders have been widely found.
Critical feminist theories describe how processes related body image, such as the objectification of women and gender minorities, serve economic and political goals of gender majorities. The objectification of women in society mainly through media images, leads to women internalizing the need to self-monitor one’s body and it is associated with negative body image. Social media and magazines often show unrealistic images usually digitally altered affecting the self-steem, self acceptance and own attitudes that may lead to a higher risk of mental health disorders.
Professor of Medical Microbiology at the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), director of the Laboratory of Antibiotics and Molecular Bacteriology.