Hessah Ibrahim Alsuwedan

Bulimia nervosa is characterized by disturbed body image, repetitive binge eating, and compensatory behaviours such as self-induced vomiting, laxative abuse, or fasting. Body image dissatisfaction and eating disordered behaviours (e.g. food restriction, purging, and binge eating) can affect men and women of varied ages, races, and cultural backgrounds. Body dissatisfaction is defined as a negative subjective evaluation of the weight and shape of one’s own body. Body dissatisfaction predicts the onset, severity, and treatment outcomes of eating disorders. A core component of body dissatisfaction is appearance-based social comparisons. In this context a study on self-perception of body image of women in Riyadh in 2018 revealed that a sudden spurt in obesity after marriage is leading to shift of higher percentage of women from positive to negative perception. Overall, an underestimation of body weight in terms of BMI was found among the participants. Such misconceptions should be addressed in view of the high obesity prevalence. It was also evident that positive and negative body image perception will lead to eating disorders in adolescents.