Prevalence of body dissatisfaction among United States adults: Review and recommendations for future research

• We reviewed research examining the prevalence of BD among United States adults.
• Prevalence of BD ranged from 11%-72% for women, and 8%-61% for men.
• Research lacks random selection and consistency in operational definitions of BD.

As the evidence supporting the role of body dissatisfaction (BD) in chronic disease risk factors and health behaviors increases, documenting the prevalence of BD is an essential first step in determining to what degree BD is a public health problem. Therefore, the primary purpose of this study is to critically evaluate research examining the population prevalence of BD among U.S. adults. Seven studies were located and provided estimates of prevalence of BD among U.S. adults that were extremely varied (11%–72% for women, and 8%–61% for men). While some of the variation may be due to increases in BD over time, the literature is also clouded by a lack of randomly selected samples, lack of consistency in measurement tools, lack of consistency in operational definitions of BD, and lack of standardized cut-off points for BD. Recommendations for improving BD prevalence research to enable public health research are provided.