Body image and body satisfaction among overweight postpartum African American and Latina women in the B’more Fit for Healthy Babies weight loss intervention

Background

 The B’more Fit for Healthy Babies Coalition is a public health alliance of community partners focusing on obesity and infant mortality.  The coalition implemented a postpartum weight reduction intervention to help women reduce risk of future pregnancy complications, and explored body image perceptions that may influence weight loss behaviors.

 

Methods

Thirty African American (AA) and 8 Latina women completed a survey. Twenty attended B’more Fit regularly (attenders) and 18 had discontinued (non-attenders).  Participants reported their perceived current, ideal, and “healthiest” body image using a validated scale.  Body image is a subjective measure of body size whereas Body Mass Index is objective. Body image perceptions were compared by ethnicity and attendance.  Body satisfaction was based on a Body Discrepancy calculation. 

Results

 A total of 86.8% (n= 33) reported a larger current body image than their ideal image.  For AA women, the mean ideal body image was larger than the mean “healthiest” image (4.5 vs. 3.9, p=0.039).AA women had greater body dissatisfaction (BD: 1.9 [0- 4]) than Latina women (BD: 1.1 [0- 3]) (p=0.964), but not statistically significant. Ideal body image was rated higher than “healthiest” among attenders (4.1 vs. 3.5, p=0.008), but not non-attenders (4.8 vs. 4.4 p=0.147). The mean “healthiest” body image was smaller for attenders versus non-attenders (3.5 vs. 4.4, p=0.013).  Body dissatisfaction was similar in both groups (BD: 1.8 vs. 1.7, p= 0.964).

Conclusion

 Perception of body size and other risk indicators influence behaviors and health outcomes.  Most women expressed dissatisfaction with their body, with a greater discrepancy between current and ideal among AA women. This may suggest differences between health standards and cultural preferences or postpartum weight expectations. Latinas perceived a smaller body size than AA women, and a smaller gap exists between perceived current body size and “healthiest” size among Latina women.  Latinas may view the program goals as more attainable. Attenders and non-attenders have similar current body image perceptions and ideal image; however, non-attenders perceive the “healthiest” body image as larger, which may influence participation. Findings suggest that weight loss interventions for postpartum women incorporate body image discussions to strengthen gender-based program effectiveness.