Body esteem and body shape satisfaction in women with regional adiposity

The possibility that specific body characteristics may influence self-perceptions differently among groups of uniquely shaped women is likely. Body esteem (BE) and body shape satisfaction (BS) were assessed by questionnaire on eighty Caucasian, premenopausal females recruited from the local community and university. Anthropometric data were obtained by trained technicians in a laboratory setting. Correlation and regression analysis were conducted to establish relationships between anthropometric variables, body esteem, and BS scores. A subset of participants (n = 36) divided into lower body (LB; WHR ≤ .73) and upper body (UB; WHR ≥ .80) fat groups were then compared. The results indicated that BMI, waist-to-hip ratio, and waist/hip circumferences were significantly correlated to body esteem and body shape among all participants. No differences were found on body esteem and body shape scores between Upper Body and Lower Body groups. However, lower body circumferences contributed the greatest variance to body esteem in the Upper Body group.