Comparative study of body image among dancers and anorexic girls

In order to examine the nature of body image distortions, we studied their perceptual and idealised components using a video distortion technique to create photographs of dancers, anorexics and controls that made their bodies look larger. Each subject was then asked to adjust the photograph until it reflected her estimated and desired body size. The results show that: 1) all three groups perceived themselves to be heavier than they actually are, but the dancers had a more realistic perception of their body weight; 2) the dancers would have liked to be thinner, whereas the controls and anorexics were satisfied with their body weight; 3) the scores of the anorexic subjects were characterised by a lack of correlation between their perceptual and idealised distortions, whereas those of the dancers--and even more so those of the controls--were characterised by consistency between the two types of distortion.