Does the ‘average size’ of women in the neighbourhood influence a woman's likelihood of body dissatisfaction?

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We examined whether the ‘average body size’ of women within a neighbourhood was associated with the number of women reporting body dissatisfaction in that neighbourhood. Data from a random digit dialling telephone survey of 884 Canadian women (mean age 41) indicated that for a given individual body mass index (BMI) women who lived among ‘thinner’ women (a smaller average neighbourhood body mass index (BMI)) were more likely to feel dissatisfied with their own bodies than women who lived among ‘larger’ women (a larger average neighbourhood BMI). Our results are consistent with the need to consider places as well as people in explaining various health outcomes.