Body image distortion in noneating disordered women

This study of body image perception in 50 non-eating disordered women demonstrates and confirms that overperception of body widths is not restricted to populations with eating disorders. Those women who were at normal weight [mean matched population weight (MMPW) ± 5%] overstimated body widths to a lesser degree than other subjects. The data suggests that the greater the deviation of weight from normal, the greater the degree of body width overestimation. We believe that the overestimation of body width is more directly related to the deviation of weight from MMPW than the presence or absence of an eating disorder per se. Comparison of women at normal weight with those above and below this revealed significant differences in the discrepancy between desired and actual weight and also between desired weight and MMPW. The subjects who were most satisfied with their actual weight were the group whose weight was below average for their height and age.