RELATIONSHIPS
BETWEEN BODY MEASUREMENTS AND BODY IMAGE
IN EXERCISING AND NON-EXERCISING OLDER WOMEN
Carolyn
Alish, MS, RD, LD, M. Catherine Mitchell, PhD, RD, LD, Kristin Ward,
MS, Department of Human Nutrition and Food Management, and Diane Habash,
PhD, RD, LD, General Clinical Research Center, University Hospital,
The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio
Given
that body image may be an influential factor in the choices of older
adults' health behaviors, the objectives of this study were to:
1) explore relationships among selected anthropometric measurements
and 2) investigate body weight, % body fat (BF), waist-to-hip ratio
(WHR), and body image in exercising and non-exercising older women.
Participants (73 women over the age of 60 years) were recruited from
senior centers in the central Ohio area. Based on self-reported activities,
47 were exercising and 26 were non-exercising. Data collection included
a body image survey, anthropometry, and bioelectrical impedance analysis;
body mass index (BMI) was calculated from measured weight and height.
Since there were no significant differences between the two groups,
the data were pooled and Pearson product-moment correlations were determined.
There were statistically significant correlations between body image
scores and body weight (r = -0.545), % BF (r = -0.673) and body mass
index (BMI) (r = -0.543). There was no statistically significant relationship
between WHR and body image (r = -0.095) (p = .05). There were no significant
differences between exercising and non-exercising women, espectively,
for age (69 + 0.84 vs. 70.07 + 1.89 years), height (159.39 + 0.95 vs.
158.28 + 1.69 cm), weight (70.57 + 2.20 vs. 72.84 + 3.47 kg), % BF (34.71
+ 0.73 vs. 34.35 + 1.34%), BMI (27.75 + 0.81 vs. 29.26 + 1.43 kg/m2),
WHR (0.83 + 0.01 vs. 0.81 + 0.02), or body image score (2.67 + 0.12
vs. 2.64 + 0.16) (Higher body image scores indicated a more positive
body image). The results of this study indicate that body weight, %BF
and BMI, rather than WHR, negatively influenced body image and that,
in this sample of older women, the self-reported exercise habits of
older women did not play a role in determining body image.
Funding
for this project was provided by the Virginia M. Vivian Research Endowment,
The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio.
Contact
person:
Carolyn Alish MS, RD
Department of Human Nutrition and Food Management
Ohio State University
Columbus, OH 43210
Fax: 614/798/8518
