Does Body Satisfaction Help or Harm Overweight Teens? A 10-Year Longitudinal Study of the Relationship Between Body Satisfaction and Body Mass Index

Abstract

Purpose: This study examines the relationship between body satisfaction of overweight adolescents and 10-year changes in body mass index (BMI).

Methods: Participants who were overweight as adolescents (n = 496) were drawn from Project Eating and Activity in Teens and Young Adults (Project EAT), a 10-year longitudinal study.

Results: Among overweight girls, a significant difference in 10-year BMI change across baseline body satisfaction quartiles was observed. Overweight girls with the lowest body satisfaction at baseline had a nearly three unit greater increase in BMI at follow-up, compared with overweight girls in the high body satisfaction quartile; this difference has important clinical significance. Among overweight boys, no significant associations between body satisfaction quartile and change in BMI were not observed.

Conclusion: Overall, findings indicate that among overweight adolescents, a high level of body satisfaction during adolescence was not harmful, and in fact may be beneficial for girls, in terms of long-term weight management. These findings refute the commonly held notion that overweight young people should be dissatisfied with their bodies to motivate positive change.

Keywords: BMI; Body acceptance; Body satisfaction; Longitudinal; Obesity; Overweight; Weight gain; Weight management.