Literature on body image and health behaviors has largely been pathology-based, investigating body dissatisfaction and disordered eating. Body appreciation is a useful construct of positive body image and has been used to understand its relationship with health behaviors beyond eating. This scoping review explores the literature on the relationship between body appreciation and physical health-promoting behaviors and health-compromising behaviors. A comprehensive search of databases was conducted to gather correlational studies written in English between January 2005 and November 2019. Behaviors related to eating and exercise were excluded. Nine quantitative studies met inclusion criteria. Evidence suggests an overall positive relationship between body appreciation and health-promoting behaviors, including preventive sexual health behaviors, preventive cancer behaviors, and seeking medical attention. Alternatively, body appreciation is negatively associated with health-compromising behaviors including risky sexual activity and alcohol and tobacco use. Promoting positive body image, above and beyond the reduction of body dissatisfaction, may play a crucial role in the health and well-being of women and girls. Research that examines positive body image in groups that are racially diverse and include sexual and gender minorities and people without healthcare access is urgently needed.

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Negative body talk is a normative behavior among United States women and is an important area of intervention for women's health and well-being. Identifying as a feminist and/or endorsing feminist beliefs, which can promote a resistant stance toward cultural appearance standards, may protect against negative body talk. We conducted a mixed-methods study with an online sample of 447 predominantly White (81.1%) United States women between the ages of 18–73 years ( M = 41.25, SD = 12.54). We used Consensual Qualitative Research-Modified to systematically code open-ended survey data comprising responses to negative body talk and assessed whether liberal feminist attitudes or feminist identity relate to response categories. We categorized women's responses to negative body talk along with a feminist spectrum which ranged from explicit reinforcement of the thin ideal to a resistant stance toward beauty standards. Liberal feminism was negatively correlated with explicit reinforcement of the thin ideal, and both liberal feminism and feminist identity were positively correlated with a resistant stance. Therapists and practitioners who work with women on issues related to body image disturbance might consider supporting their clients in developing a feminist identity that can critically filter cultural messages that further objectify women.