Body Image Dissatisfaction: Gender Differences in Eating Attitudes, Self-Esteem, and Reasons for Exercise

TLDR

Body image dissatisfaction and its links to eating attitudes, self‑esteem, and exercise motivations are increasingly studied. A questionnaire was administered to 235 adolescents assessing eating attitudes, self‑esteem, exercise reasons, and perceived versus ideal body size. Boys were equally likely to desire a heavier or lighter body, whereas few girls wanted to be heavier; only girls linked body dissatisfaction to self‑esteem, and low self‑esteem and disordered eating correlated with exercise motives in both sexes.

Abstract

Abstract Two hundred and thirty-five adolescents completed a questionnaire on the subject of eating attitudes, self-esteem, reasons for exercise, and their ideal versus current body size and shape. As predicted, boys were as likely to want to be heavier as lighter, whereas very few girls desired to be heavier. Only girls associated body dissatisfaction with the concept of self-esteem. Male self-esteem was not affected by body dissatisfaction. Specific reasons for exercise were found to correlate with low self-esteem and disordered eating, regardless of sex. The results are discussed in relation to burgeoning published research in this area.