Body-scaled action in obesity during locomotion: Insights on the nature and extent of body representation disturbances

•Obesity impacts on body proportions as well as on the subjective bodily experience; however body schema distortions have not generally been explored.•We investigated if body-scaled actions are distorted in individuals affected by obesity.•Participants with obesity walked through door-like openings, as they were completely aware of their body dimensions•The locomotor body schema was biased by obesity.

ObjectiveConscious perception of our own body, also known as body image, can influence body-scaled actions. Certain conditions such as obesity are frequently accompanied by a negative body image, leaving open the question if body-scaled actions are distorted in these individuals.MethodsTo shed light on this issue, we asked individuals affected by obesity to process dimensions of their own body in a real action: they walked in a straight-ahead direction, while avoiding collision with obstacles represented by door-like openings that varied in width.ResultsParticipants affected by obesity showed a body rotation behavior similar to that of the healthy weighted, but differences emerged in parameters such as step length and velocity.ConclusionWhen participants with obesity walk through door-like openings, their body parts rotation is scaled according to their physical body dimensions; however, they might try to minimize risk of collision. Our study is in line with the hypothesis that unconscious body-scaled actions are related to emotional, cognitive and perceptual components of a negative body image.