Body image and exercise in people with and without acquired mobility disability

Abstract

The present study indicated that individuals with AMD rated their body image comparable to the able-bodied controls except in the attention paid to appearance and perceptions about physical health. When taking the effect size of the main effect of exercise into consideration, the members of the active mobility disability group appear to evaluate their physical appearance (appearance evaluation) and health (health evaluation) better, are more concerned with fitness (fitness orientation) and more satisfied with different body parts (body areas satisfaction) when compared to their non-active mobility disability counterparts. The potential role of exercise on improving body image in individuals with mobility disabilities should be systematically investigated.