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Body image in obese adults

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2009

G. D. Pearlson ,
L. H. Flournoy ,
M. Simonson  and
P. R. Slavney
G. D. Pearlson*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
L. H. Flournoy
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
M. Simonson
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
P. R. Slavney
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
*
1Address for correspondence: Dr G. D. Pearlson, Henry Phipps Psychiatric Clinic, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, USA.
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Synopsis

Data were gathered on 38 obese women and 16 obese men attending a weight-reduction programme and on an equal number of normal weight controls, regarding accuracy of perception of body width in 4 regions, as well as attitudes towards body size. Obese subjects, particularly women, tended to overestimate body width and to dislike their bodies, but neither of these factors predicted success in losing weight. Age of onset of obesity was not related to degree of adult obesity or to accuracy of estimation of body width.

Type
Research Article
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 11 , Issue 1 , February 1981 , pp. 147 - 154
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1981

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