Gender Differences in Body Image Are Increasing

Abstract

It has been speculated that the prevalence of eating disorders in women has risen because of increases in women's body dissatisfaction. We conducted a meta-analysis of gender differences in attractiveness and body image using 222 studies from the past 50 years. The analysis shows dramatic increases in the numbers of women among individuals who have poor body image. Moreover, these trends were found across multiple conceptualizations of body image, including self-judgments of physical attractiveness.