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Assessment of body perception among Swedish adolescents and young adults
E Bergström1, H Stenlund, B Svedjehäll
1Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Umeå University, Sweden.
Purpose:
To assess body perception in adolescents and young adults without anorexia nervosa.
Method:
Using a visual size estimation technique, perceived body size was estimated in four groups of Swedish adolescents and young adults without anorexia nervosa (86 males and 95 females). Perceived body size was estimated at nine different body sites comparing these estimations to real body size.
Results:
The results show that 95% of males and 96% of females overestimated their body size (mean overestimation: males +22%, females +33%). The overestimations were greatest in females. The greatest overestimations were made of the waist (males +31%, females +46%), buttocks (males +22%, females +42%), and thighs (males +27%, females +41%).
Conclusions:
The results indicate that overestimation of body size may be a general phenomenon in adolescents and young adults in a country such as Sweden, implying a similar, but less pronounced distortion of body image as in individuals with anorexia nervosa.