Food intake affects state body image: Impact of restrained eating patterns and concerns about eating, weight and shape

Body image disturbances play a significant role in the development of eating disorders. Since body image can vary in diverse contexts, the aim of the present experiment was to investigate whether it is affected by recent food intake. Fifty-seven females without clinically relevant eating disorders were randomly assigned to an experimental group (EG, n=28) that consumed a milkshake while watching a neutral film and a control group (CG, n=29) that only viewed the movie. Before and after the tasks, participants filled in the “Body Image States Scale” and the “Mood Questionnaire” and indicated their own “actual”, “felt” and “ideal” body dimensions with a digital distortion technique based on a photograph of themselves. It was shown that after milkshake consumption, state body dissatisfaction as well as the discrepancy between “actual–ideal” and “felt–ideal” body size estimations was higher in the EG than in the CG. Judgements of the “actual”, “felt” and “ideal” body dimensions and of mood were not affected. Further analyses revealed that the effect of milkshake consumption on body image and mood was higher the more the participants displayed restrained eating or eating, weight and shape concerns in general. Clinical implications are discussed.