Body Satisfaction and Associated Predictors Among Baby Boomer Women in Rural and Urban Manitoba
Publication: Canadian Journal of Dietetic Practice and Research
25 August 2022
Abstract
Purpose: This study examines body satisfaction, weight attitudes, dieting behaviours, and aging concerns of baby boomer women (BBW; born 1946–1965) from rural and urban Manitoba.
Methods: Primary data collection occurred November 2015, and 1083 participants completed the Body Image and Food Choice Survey. Four strata of BBW were represented to examine differences between older and younger BBW and location of residence. Multinomial logistic regression models were fit to determine predictors of weight and appearance satisfaction. Odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals were considered significant at p ≤ 0.05.
Results: Fifty-three percent of participants were satisfied with their appearance, whereas only 34% were satisfied with their weight. Ninety-one percent desired to lose weight (29.9 ± 29.3 lbs). Aging anxiety was evident for 46% of participants and associated with appearance satisfaction (χ2 = 27.46, df = 4, p < 0.001). Body work and dieting behaviours were used to mitigate body dissatisfaction, and media influence was associated with both appearance (χ2 = 76.17, df = 6, p < 0.001) and weight satisfaction (χ2 = 67.90, df = 6, p < 0.001). Desired weight change, appearance stress, appearance importance, and self-rated health predicted both weight and appearance satisfaction.
Conclusions: There is a need for greater awareness of aging women’s body image concerns and the need for age-appropriate tools/resources to help dietitians support women achieve a healthy body image.
Résumé
Objectif. Cette étude examine la satisfaction corporelle, l’attitude à l’égard du poids, les comportements relatifs aux régimes amaigrissants et les préoccupations propres au vieillissement de bébé-boumeuses (nées entre 1946 et 1965) de régions rurales et urbaines du Manitoba.
Méthodes. Les données primaires ont été recueillies en novembre 2015, et 1 083 participantes ont répondu au sondage sur l’image corporelle et les choix alimentaires. Quatre strates de bébé-boumeuses ont été représentées afin d’examiner les différences entre les bébé-boumeuses plus âgées et plus jeunes, et selon le lieu de résidence. Des modèles de régression logistique multinomiale ont été ajustés afin de déterminer les prédicteurs de satisfaction à l’égard du poids et de l’apparence. Les rapports de cotes et les intervalles de confiance à 95 % ont été considérés comme significatifs à p ≤ 0,05.
Résultats. Cinquante-trois pour cent des participantes étaient satisfaites de leur apparence, tandis que 34 % seulement étaient satisfaites de leur poids. Quatre-vingt-onze pour cent souhaitaient perdre du poids (29,9 ± 29,3 lb). L’anxiété liée au vieillissement était manifeste chez 46 % des participantes et associée à la satisfaction à l’égard de l’apparence (χ2 = 27,46, dl = 4, p < 0,001). L’activité physique et les régimes amaigrissants étaient utilisés pour atténuer l’insatisfaction corporelle, et l’influence des médias était associée à la fois à la satisfaction à l’égard de l’apparence (χ2 = 76,17, dl = 6, p < 0,001) et du poids (χ2 = 67,90, dl = 6, p < 0,001). Le changement de poids souhaité, le stress lié à l’apparence, l’importance de l’apparence et l’état de santé autoévalué permettaient de prédire la satisfaction relative au poids et à l’apparence.
Conclusions. Il est nécessaire de mieux connaître les préoccupations des femmes vieillissantes à l’égard de l’image corporelle et de disposer d’outils et de ressources adaptés à l’âge pour permettre aux diététistes d’aider les femmes à avoir une image corporelle saine.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
1
Statistics Canada. Age and sex, and type of dwelling data: key results from the 2016 census; 2017 [cited 2017 Aug 4]. Available from: http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/170503/dq170503a-eng.htm.
2
Hurd Clarke, Laura; Bennet E V. Gender, ageing and appearance. In: Twigg J, Martin, Wendy, editors. Routledge handbook of cultural gerontology [Internet]. Abingdon (VA): Routledge; 2015. p. 133–40. Available from: https://web-p-ebscohost-com.uml.idm.oclc.org/ehost/ebookviewer/ebook/bmxlYmtfXzEwMDQ0OTlfX0FO0?sid=121332d9-785b-4e7f-9256-84f1d1d64c19@redis&vid=0&format=EB&rid=1.
3
Hofmeier SM, Runfola CD, Sala M, Gagne DA, Brownley KA, and Bulik CM. Body image, aging, and identity in women over 50: the gender and body image (GABI) study. J Women Aging. 2017;29(1):3–14.
4
Lewis DM and Cachelin FM. Body image, body dissatisfaction, and eating attitudes in midlife and elderly women. Eat Disord. 2001;9(1):29–39.
5
Bedford JL and Johnson CS. Societal influences on body image dissatisfaction in younger and older women. J Women Aging 2006;18(1):41–55.
6
Liechty T. “Yes, I worry about my weight … but for the most part I’m content with my body”: older women’s body dissatisfaction alongside contentment. J Women Aging. 2012 Jan;24(1):70–88.
7
Stronge S, Greaves LM, Milojev P, West-Newman T, Barlow FK, and Sibley CG. Facebook is linked to body dissatisfaction: comparing users and non-users. Sex Roles. 2015;73(5):200–213.
8
Peat CM, Peyerl NL, and Muehlenkamp JJ. Body image and eating disorders in older adults: a review. J Gen Psychol. 2008;135(4):343–358.
9
Marshall C, Lengyel C, and Utioh A. Body dissatisfaction among middle-aged and older women. Can J Diet Pract Res. 2012;73(2):e241–e241.
10
Slevec J and Tiggemann M. Attitudes toward cosmetic surgery in middle-aged women: body image, aging anxiety, and the media. Psychol Women Q. 2010;34(1):65–74.
11
Mangweth-Matzek B, Rupp CI, Hausmann A, Assmayr K, Mariacher E, Kemmler G, et al. Never too old for eating disorders or body dissatisfaction: a community study of elderly women. Int J Eat Disord. 2006;39(7):583–586.
12
Baker JH and Runfola CD. Eating disorders in midlife women: a perimenopausal eating disorder? Maturitas. 2016;85:112–116.
13
Allaz AF, Bernstein M, Vannes MC, Rouget P, and Morabia A. Weight loss preoccupation in aging women: a general population survey. Int J Eat Disord. 1998;23(3):287–294.
14
Black M and Bowman M. Nutrition and healthy aging. Clin Geriatr Med. 2020;36(4):655–669.
15
Mangweth-Matzek B, Hoek HW, Rupp CI, Kemmler G, Pope HG, and Kinzl J. The menopausal transition - A possible window of vulnerability for eating pathology. Int J Eat Disord. 2013;46(6):609–616.
16
Hilbert A, de Zwaan M, and Braehler E. How frequent are eating disturbances in the population? Norms of the eating disorder Examination-Questionnaire. PLoS ONE. 2012;7(1).
17
Gagne DA, Von Holle A, Brownley KA, Runfola CD, Hofmeier S, Branch KE, et al. Eating disorder symptoms and weight and shape concerns in a large web-based convenience sample of women ages 50 and above: results of the gender and body image (GABI) study. Int J Eat Disord. 2012;45(7):832–844.
18
Chonody JM and Teater B. Why do I dread looking old?: a test of social identity theory, terror management theory, and the double standard of aging. J Women Aging. 2016;28(2):112–126.
19
Hurd Clarke L. Older women’s perceptions of ideal body weights: the tension between health and appearance motivations for weight loss. Ageing Soc. 2002;22(6):751–773.
20
Hurd Clarke L. Older women’s bodies and the self: the construction of identity in later life. Can Rev Sociol Anthropol. 2001;38(4):441–464.
21
Brown A and Knight T. Shifts in media images of women appearance and social status from 1960 to 2010: a content analysis of beauty advertisements in two Australian magazines. J Aging Stud. 2015;35:74–83.
22
Slevec J and Tiggemann M. Media exposure, body dissatisfaction, and disordered eating in middle-aged women: a test of the sociocultural model of disordered eating. Psychol Women Q. 2011;35(4):617–627.
23
Hurd L. Older women’s body image and embodied experience: an extrapolation. J Women Aging. 2000;12(3–4):77–97.
24
Grippo KP and Hill MS. Self-objectification, habitual body monitoring, and body dissatisfaction in older European American women: exploring age and feminism as moderators. Body Image. 2008;5:173–182.
25
Cash TF and Henry PE. Women’s body images: the results of a national survey in the U.S.A. Sex Roles. 1995;33(1–2):19–28.
26
Hurd Clarke L. and Korotchenko A. Aging and the body: a review. Can J Aging. 2011;30(3):495–510.
27
Marshall C. Body dissatisfaction, concerns about aging, and food choices of baby boomer and older women in Manitoba Winnipeg (MB): University of Manitoba; 2014.
28
Raghavendra D and Antony GM. Categorical data analysis. Appl Clin Trials. 2011;20(5):50–1.
29
Kozar JM and Damhorst ML. Comparison of the ideal and real body as women age: relationships to age identity, body satisfaction and importance, and attention to models in advertising. Cloth Text Res J. 2009;27(3):197–210.
30
Wilcox S. Age and gender in relation to body attitudes: is there a double standard of aging? Psychol Women Q. 1997;21(4):549–565.
31
Clarke LH and Griffin M. Visible and invisible ageing: beauty work as a response to ageism. Ageing Soc. 2008;28(5):653–674.
32
Levine M. Combating the negative impact of mass media. Eat Disord. 2017;20(6):70–88.
33
de Souto Barreto P, Ferrandez A, and Guihard-Costa A. Predictors of body satisfaction: differences between older men and women’s perceptions of their body functioning and appearance. J Aging Health. 2011;23(3):505–528.
34
Urquhart CS and Mihalynuk TV. Disordered eating in women: implications for the obesity epidemic. Can J Diet Pract Res. 2011;72(1):e115–e125.
35
Winterich JA. Aging, femininity, and the body: what appearance changes mean to women with age. Gender Issues. 2007;24(3):51–69.
36
Phelan SM, Burgess DJ, Yeazel MW, Hellerstedt WL, Griffin JM, and van Ryn M. Impact of weight bias and stigma on quality of care and outcomes for patients with obesity. Obes Rev. 2015;16(4):319–326.
Supplementary Material
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Canadian Journal of Dietetic Practice and Research
Volume 83 • Number 4 • December 2022
Pages: 160 - 167
Editor: Naomi Cahill
History
Received: 12 March 2021
Accepted: 1 March 2022
Version of record online: 25 August 2022
Copyright
© 2022.
Key Words
Mots-clés
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Other Metrics
Citations
Cite As
NikkiHawrylyshenMSc, RD and ChristinaLengyelPhD, RD. 2022. Body Satisfaction and Associated Predictors Among Baby Boomer Women in Rural and Urban Manitoba. Canadian Journal of Dietetic Practice and Research.
83(4): 160-167. https://doi.org/10.3148/cjdpr-2022-013
Export Citations
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.
There are no citations for this item
View Options
Get Access
Login options
Check if you access through your login credentials or your institution to get full access on this article.
Subscribe
Click on the button below to subscribe to Canadian Journal of Dietetic Practice and Research
