Weight Anxiety in Older Women

This study examined the nature of weight anxiety in women over 50 years of age. More than half the women had dieted and half were currently worried about being overweight. Few women were currently dieting or were worried about being underweight. Comparisons between women with high and low levels of weight anxiety revealed that those with high levels were more likely to engage in dieting behaviour. Moreover, it was found that those women who were working were less likely to have high levels of weight anxiety than those women who were not in employment. Comparisons were made between the older women and a group of younger women. The two groups had similar patterns of weight anxiety. However, the older women were heavier and had higher weight ideals. Of particular interest was the finding that the older women were more likely to have greater differences between actual and ideal weights than the younger women.