Your body image is influenced by your surroundings: Study

Toronto: Are you surrounded by people who are not conscious of their bodies? Then there is good news for you, because a new study suggests spending time with people who are not concerned about their bodies can improve your own eating habits and body image.

In this study, examining the influence of social interactions on body image, the researchers found that in addition to the previous results, rubbing shoulders with people preoccupied with their body image was detrimental to spending time with non-focused people on their bodies also had a positive impact.

People who are not centered on the body are those who are not concerned about their weight, shape or appearance.

"Our research suggests that the social context has a significant impact on how we perceive our body in general and on a particular day, specifically, when others around us are not focused on their bodies, this can be helpful for our own body image, "said Kathryn Miller, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Waterloo in Canada.

For the study, the team involved nearly 100 female undergraduates aged 17 to 25 years old.

They measured the frequency of daily interactions between participants with people focused on the body and not centered on their body, their degree of body badessment (how much they value their body regardless of its size or shape) and their body satisfaction, and they have intuitively eaten in alignment with their hunger and cravings rather than focusing on their dietary and weight goals.

The findings, published in the journal Body Image, have shown that bodily dissatisfaction is ubiquitous and can have a tremendous impact on our mood, our self-esteem, our relationships and even the activities we conduct.

"It's important to realize that the people we spend time with really influence our body image, so if we can spend more time with people who are not concerned about their bodies, we can really feel better with our own body. "Allison said. Kelly, professor at the university.

In addition, they also discovered that it could be advantageous to spend more time with people not focused on the body to protect themselves from eating disorders and promote a more intuitive diet.

"If more women try to focus less on their weight or shape, it could result in a workout effect that would alter social norms for the image of women's bodies in a positive direction." It is also important for women to know that they have the opportunity to positively influence their surroundings, through the way they relate to their own bodies, "Miller suggested.