Body image and weight change in middle age: a qualitative study

Abstract

AIMS:To explore men's and women's experiences of weight change in adulthood, body image preferences and beliefs about the health consequences of overweight and to inform the development of a primary care intervention to prevent obesity. SAMPLE: Seventy-two men and women aged 35 -55, with a range of BMIs from 22 to 29.9, were identified from two UK general practice registers and invited to participate in an interview about experiences of weight change in adulthood. METHODS: Audio tape recorded, semi-structured interviews were conducted in respondents' homes by trained researchers. Open-ended questions were used to collect experiences of weight change since early adulthood and views about weight change in middle age. Illustrations of a range of men's and women's body shapes were used to prompt discussion of respondents' preferences for male and female body shapes and their perspectives of the health, social and practical problems associated with underweight and overweight. The data were analysed using both quantitative and qualitative methods. RESULTS: Some 87% (33=38) of the women and 59% (20=34) of the men said that they had ever tried to lose weight. At least one instance of successful weight loss was reported by 58% of the women and 47% of the men, although many of these attempts were relatively short-lived and often motivated by specific goals such as a holiday or a wedding. Respondents were sceptical of the possibility of controlling weight without considerable personal sacrifice. Explanations for middle-age weight gain included a sedentary lifestyle, as well as several gender-specific reasons, including hormonal changes and comfort eating for women and beer drinking for men. Nearly all (97%) respondents associated heart disease with overweight, while diabetes was mentioned by only 22% and none mentioned cancer. CONCLUSION: People who have gained weight in middle age may be deterred from trying to prevent further gain by pessimism about the effort required. The efficacy of interventions to encourage relatively small substitutions and changes to diet and physical activity need to be tested. Interventions to help prevent weight gain in middle age could include information about the less widely known health risks such as diabetes and cancer.

Overweight men's motivations and perceived barriers towards weight loss

“…Additionally, being a 'small' man was associated with weakness or homosexuality. This is in accordance with the results of earlier studies of both Connell (1995) and Ziebland et al (2002), who report that underweight is less acceptable for a man and that the size of a man's body is important for his perceived degree of masculinity.…”

The impact of a national mass media campaign in The Netherlands on the prevention of weight gain

“…Perceived vulnerability was assessed by asking respondents whether they believed they were less or more at risk for weight gain compared with others of approximately the same age and height on a bipolar 5-point scale ranging from 'much less at risk' (1) to 'much more at risk' (5). The multiplication of both item scores represented the risk perception score (range [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15].…”

retombées de l'activité physique chez des femmes qui présentent un surplus de poids ou de l'obésité sur l'image de soi et sur le bien-être psychologique et physique /

“…Cette étude a également permis d'identifier les inconvénients sociaux associés au problème de surplus de poids comme par exemple, la difficulté à trouver un travail, la difficulté à avoir un partenaire amoureux et à dénicher des vêtements à la mode (Ziebland, Robertson, Jay & Neil, 2002). La présence de ces inconvénients sociaux serait un des facteurs motivationnels qui incitent les gens à tenter des actions pour parvenir à perdre du poids (Ziebland, Robertson, Jay & Neil, 2002 (Calfas, Long, Sallis, Wooten, Pratt & Patrick, 1996).…”

“…Cette étude a également permis d'identifier les inconvénients sociaux associés au problème de surplus de poids comme par exemple, la difficulté à trouver un travail, la difficulté à avoir un partenaire amoureux et à dénicher des vêtements à la mode (Ziebland, Robertson, Jay & Neil, 2002). La présence de ces inconvénients sociaux serait un des facteurs motivationnels qui incitent les gens à tenter des actions pour parvenir à perdre du poids (Ziebland, Robertson, Jay & Neil, 2002 (Calfas, Long, Sallis, Wooten, Pratt & Patrick, 1996). Chez les jeunes fréquentant l'école secondaire, l'exercice physique préviendrait l'obésité et encouragerait ces personnes à adopter de saines habitudes alimentaires et diminuerait leur niveau de sédentarité (Haerens, Deforche, Maes, Cardon, Stevens & De Bourdeaudhuij, 2006 (1993), ont démontré que l'exercice n'augmente pas la résistance au stress mais influence le bienêtre psychologique et l'ampleur des réactions qu'il est possible de manifester en situation de stress.…”

“…Cela dit, la présence d'inconvénients sociaux associés au problème de surplus de poids comme par exemple, la difficulté à trouver un travail, la difficulté à avoir un partenaire amoureux et à dénicher des vêtements à la mode seraient des facteurs motivationnels qui incitent les gens à tenter des actions pour parvenir à perdre du poids (Ziebland, Robertson, Jay & Neil, 2002). …”