Body weight preoccupation in middle-age and ageing women: A general population survey

Abstract

Objective and methods: The desired weights and dieting behavior of a sample of 1,053 women aged 30–74 years in the general population of Geneva, Switzerland, were explored by means of a questionnaire. Multivariate analyses of variance were performed. Results: Twenty‐five percent of the women were satisfied with their weight, whereas 71% wanted to be thinner, although 73% of them were at normal weight. Among women older than 65 years, 62% wanted to lose weight, 65% of them being at normal weight. For women wanting to lose weight, mean desired weight loss amounted to 9% of their current weight. Weight dissatisfaction increased with higher education (p < .001), and with increasing current weight (p < .001). Within the last 5 years, 42% of the women had dieted for weight control, including 67% at normal weight. Thirty‐one percent of the women older than 65 years had also dieted, 62% of them being at normal weight. Discussion: A majority of middle‐age and ageing women in this general population sample expressed dissatisfaction about their weight. Many attempted dieting, even when they were at normal weight. Considering the vulnerability of the elderly to nutritional deficiencies, dieting to lose weight in normal weight ageing women should be discouraged or closely monitored. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Int J Eat Disord 23:287–294, 1998.

Eating attitudes and weight concern among Chinese middle-age women: A comparison between different age and BMI groups

“…Age group: The younger group (30)(31)(32)(33)(34)(35)(36)(37)(38)(39) will show significantly higher scores than the middle aged group (40-49) and older aged group (50-59) on the subscales Body Dissatisfaction and Drive for Thinness on the questionnaire EDI-2.…”

“…Allaz et al found that available research demonstrated that Body Dissatisfaction and weight preoccupation remain high in aging women 37 . Among women over 62, the concern over weight change was second only to memory loss 38 .…”

“…The two age groups (30)(31)(32)(33)(34)(35)(36)(37)(38)(39), (40)(41)(42)(43)(44)(45)(46)(47)(48)(49), scored lowest on Body Dissatisfaction near the point (BMI = 19). However, from this point, their scores on Body Dissatisfaction began to rise since they wanted to reduce their weight.…”

Women's body dissatisfaction, social class, and social mobility

“…Body dissatisfaction has previously been shown to be common among women in middle age (Allaz et al, 1998;McLaren & Kuh, 2004), but studies are few. Dissatisfaction carries negative consequences for health and wellbeing among women of this age group, including elevated feelings of depression, lower quality of life, low energy levels (Reboussin et al, 2000), and avoidance of social situations, physical intimacy, and exercise (McLaren & Kuh, 2004).…”

“…Based on British data, Sargent and Blanchflower (1994) showed that women who had been obese at age 16 earned significantly less at age 23 than women who had not been obese at age 16; this finding was independent of parental social class and baseline ability test score, and was not obtained among men in the sample. Body dissatisfaction is strongly related to body size in females, with larger women more likely to be dissatisfied (Allaz, Bernstein, Rouget, Archinard, & Morabia, 1998;Reboussin et al, 2000). Not surprisingly, the evidence is clear that concern with and distress about bodily appearance (particularly weight) is a highly gendered phenomenon.…”