Effects of anti-obesity messages on women's body image and eating behaviour

• Experimental effects of exposure to anti-obesity messages were tested among women.
• Perceived pressure to be thin moderated effects of anti-obesity messages.
• Anti-obesity messages may lead heavier women to suppress their food intake.

ObjectivesIt has been suggested that obesity stigmatization contributes to negative mental health outcomes, particularly among overweight individuals. This study examined the effects of exposure to media-portrayed anti-obesity messages on women's state self-esteem, body esteem, and food intake. It was hypothesized that exposure to anti-obesity messages would result in decreased state self-esteem and body esteem and in increased food intake, and that these effects would be more pronounced in individuals with either higher BMI or stronger perceived pressure to be thin.MethodParticipants were randomly assigned to one of three experimental conditions in which they either: read a fictitious media article containing either anti-obesity messages or non-obesity-related health messages, or completed a neutral control task (word search). State self-esteem and body esteem were measured before and after the manipulation. Participants also completed a candy taste rating task and ad lib consumption was surreptitiously measured.ResultsThere was no main effect of condition on either psychological outcome variable or on grams consumed. Higher perceived sociocultural pressure to be thin was associated with a decrease in body esteem after reading the anti-obesity article only. Having a higher BMI was associated with greater candy intake in the word search condition. This trend was also apparent in the sun exposure condition, but not in the anti-obesity condition.DiscussionExposure to anti-obesity messages appears to decrease weight-related body esteem in women who already feel strong pressure to be thin, and may lead heavier women to suppress their food intake.