prevalence of BD among women in the USA

prevalence of BD among women in the USA

Abstract

The article shows that the prevalence of BD among women in the USA are within range of 13.4 percent and 31.8 percent.  The prevalence of BD among men in the USA has been revealed to be within the range of 9.0 % to 28.4 %. The discrepancy between men and women has been associated with an increase in body dissatisfaction over time and could also due to lack of consistency in the tools for measuring the sample.

Summary

Body dissatisfaction (BD) is the key determining factor of eating disorder. According to the article, these have been associated with chronic disease through reduced likelihood of self-exams of cancer screening and termination of smoking.  It clear that evidence in support of the function of body dissatisfaction in risk factors for chronic disease, as well as an increase in health behaviors, are important initial steps in evaluating to what extent body dissatisfaction is a public health concern.  The article shows that the prevalence of BD among women in the USA are within range of 13.4 percent and 31.8 percent.  The prevalence of BD among men in the USA has been revealed to be within the range of 9.0 percent to 28.4 percent (Harris & Johnson, 2014). Also, the study has emphasized that adult who is overweight and has obese are at a greater risk of BD.  The article has indicated that the BD has dropped or plateaued over time.

This variation between men and women has been associated with an increase in body dissatisfaction over time and could also due to lack of consistency in the tools for measuring the sample. The variation is again related to inadequate flexibility in the operational definition of body dissatisfaction and absence of standardized cut-off point for body dissatisfaction.  The researchers have examined differences in body dissatisfaction across subgroups such as age, sex, and race to make a comparison of the rates of body dissatisfaction of the present sample to previous literature (Harris & Johnson, 2014). The article has recommended that there should be an improvement in body prevalence study to enhance the provision of public health research.

The result of the research indicates that the prevalence of body dissatisfaction among healthy weight women was found to be ranging between 7 percent and 14 percent as determined by mean scores for areas of body satisfaction and evaluation of appearance. From the article, the prevalence of women who are overweight range between 33 percent and 42 percent and the prevalence of women with obesity range between 49 and 69 percent (Harris & Johnson, 2014).  According to the article, this trend has been replicated for the prevalence of body dissatisfaction among obese, overweight and healthy men.  Analysis through multivariate disclosed that women in the underweight group have lower body dissatisfaction as compared to men in the same category. On the other side, the overweight and obese categories of women have greater body dissatisfaction than a male partner in obese and overweight.

Critique

It is clear that body dissatisfaction is psychological that relate to overweight and obese that is associated with an eating disorder, depression as well as poor-self-esteem. I think a huge number of people are not having issues with obesity and overweight problems and are also at risk to those correlates. The typical dissatisfaction again is in individuals who have the healthy weight.  The complicated connection between a person weight as well as body weight status appears like a real direction of study inquiry. The negative perception that originates with not attaining ideal bodily according to society seems unsurprising that body dissatisfaction is prevalent in people with obesity and overweight. It is also connected to eating disorder. I think a huge number of previous studies shows that lower prevalence of body image problems in people who are overweight and with obesity are not looking for treatment as compared to those who are seeking treatment.

Christianity plays a huge role regarding body image.  Christian perspective downplays the aspect of weight and gives courage to Christians to concentrate on the spiritual aspect other than the body image. In most cases, the religion dress among the Christians serves as a protective element against the internalization of the body dissatisfaction among them.  Christianity seems to as act as a protective factor against the growth of unhealthy eating habit as well as weight control among the Christian women. I believe that this concept can be enhanced by incorporating the spiritual beliefs into treatment as a mean of responding and caring for patients encountering body dissatisfaction.  For instance, a huge number of women prepare for the church by not considering their minds and heart before the spiritual purposes, but most of them prefer beautifying their bodies because of the aspect of body dissatisfaction. They make them feel insecure and distracted when walking for their spiritual since they compare themselves with other in the church. This is a clear indication that they suffer from body dissatisfaction.

Also, a huge number of people with normal weight are far from satisfied with body image, a situation so widespread among females that it has appropriately been considered as a normative dissatisfaction that gets well into older age levels. In the same way, measurement of body shape is multidimensional and situation that elaborates the reason of weight discontent that does not necessarily mean BD. I think measurement tools normally entails perceptual correctness or attitudes concerning body shape like personal satisfaction, venturing in beliefs as well as appearance about the avoidance behavior and body.

Reference

Harris, B.S., & Johnson, P. (2014). Prevalence of body dissatisfaction among a United States       adult sample. Eating Disorders, 15, 151-158