Body image and food consumption: Three laboratory studies of perceived calorie content

Abstract

Three studies are reported that measured body image and mood changes consequent to the consumption of a milkshake that differed in perceived number of calories (high vs. low). The pilot investigation on normal‐weight college females produced an interaction between perceived calorie content (PCC) and time of testing—subjects who received the high‐calorie shake overestimated body size and were more dysphoric at posttest than subjects who received the low calorie shake. Study 2 provided a credibility check that the pilot investigation failed to include and replicated the interaction between PCC and time of testing for size estimation accuracy. The effect was a/so found for an attitudinal measure of body satisfaction, but only a main effect of time eventuated for the mood measure. Study 3 compared subjects who differed on exercise status (runners vs. sedentary controls). In general, runners were less negatively affected by the high‐calorie shake than controls, however, none of the hypothesized three‐way interactions among group, PCC, and time of testing were significant. The findings are discussed in terms of the need to further experimentally investigate factors that affect different aspects of body image. © 1993 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

The Concept of Body Image Disturbance in Anorexia Nervosa: An Empirical Inquiry Utilizing Patients' Subjective Experiences

“…Women have been found to be more dissatisfied with their own body in social and body focused situations (Haimovitz, Lansky, & O'Reilly, 1993;Tiggemann, 2001) and when they are exposed to thin-idealized bodies (Waller & Barnes, 2002). The influence of eating and hunger has been the subject of a few studies in which the results suggest that body image is affected by recent food intake (Vocks, Legenbauer, & Heil, 2007) or perceived calorie intake (Thompson, Coovert, Pasman, & Robb, 1993). Other studies have shown that simply thinking about eating fattening, high-caloric food may induce body dissatisfaction (Fett, Lattimore, Roefs, Geschwind, & Jansen, 2009;Geschwind, Roefs, Lattimore, Fett, & Jansen, 2008) and feelings of guilt, fatness and perceived weight gain in restrained eaters (Coelho, Carter, McFarlane, & Polivy, 2008).…”

“…Consistent with previous studies we found that body images are affected by different internal or external factors such as food intake Thompson et al, 1993), body exposure (Haimovitz et al, 1993;Tiggemann, 2001;Cash et al, 2002;Smeets et al, 2011) and emotional experiences (Baker et al, 1995;Plies & Florin, 1992;Taylor & Cooper, 1992;Coelho et al, 2010). While the previous studies were conducted in laboratories and measured the effect of different exposure factors on healthy women's satisfaction with or perception of their own body, our study adds to the literature by describing how these processes are experienced by women with AN.…”

Body Image and Televised Images of Thinness and Attractiveness: A Controlled Laboratory Investigation

“…The correspondence between laboratory induced changes in body image and mood found in this study replicates earlier findings when participants consumed foodstuffs (Thompson, Coovert, Pasman, & Robb, 1993). The parallel changes in measures of mood (depression level) and body satisfaction indicate that the effect is not specific to body image, and raises the question of whether the findings reflect a more global shift in negative self-evaluation.…”

Judgments of body weight based on food intake: A pervasive cognitive bias among restrained eaters

“…For example, individuals might eat minimally in the presence of others if they believe that those others will in turn perceive them as being thinner (a form of impression management), or they might restrict their food intake as a way to bolster their own self-image (including their body image). [16][17][18][19] In this way, the cognitive bias that we have described can be an additional factor that contributes to the development or maintenance of disordered eating behavior.…”