Intra-familial and ethnic effects on attitudinal and perceptual body image: a cohort of South African mother-daughter dyads.

Zandile J Mchiza,Estelle V Lambert,Julia H Goedecke

doi:10.1186/1471-2458-11-433

Abstract

BackgroundInternational studies suggest ethnic differences in obesity prevalence may be due, in part, to differences in body image and body size dissatisfaction between groups. Further, there is evidence to suggest that there is a familial resemblance in body image between mothers and their younger (preadolescent) daughters. This research was therefore conducted to specifically identify the extent to which family status (presented as mother-daughter resemblance) and ethnicity impact on body image attitudes and perceptions of South African mothers and their pre-adolescent daughters.MethodsMother-daughter dyads (n = 201, 31% black, 37% mixed ancestry and 32% white) answered questions regarding their body image perception (the way they saw their body size status), their body image ideals, and body image attitudes (body size dissatisfaction in particular, presented as the Feel-Ideal Difference [FID] index score). Mothers' and daughters' body image results were compared within dyads and across ethnic groups using repeated measures of ANOVA.ResultsOverall, body image resemblances exist between South African mothers and their pre-adolescent daughters. Mothers and daughters chose similarly weighted silhouettes to represent their body size ideals (p = 0.308), regardless of their ethnicity or body mass index (BMI). The FID index scores were similar between mothers and their daughters only after the confounding effects of maternal BMI were removed (p = 0.685). The silhouettes chosen to represent thinness were also similar between mothers and their daughters (p = 0.960) regardless of ethnicity and maternal BMI. On the other hand, the silhouettes chosen to represent fatness were similar (p = 0.342) between mothers and their daughters, only after the confounding effects of maternal BMI were removed. Lastly, mothers and their daughters chose similarly weighted silhouettes as engendering feelings of beauty, respect and happiness (p = 0.813; p = 0.615 and p = 0.693, respectively). In this instance, black mother-daughter dyads chose significantly heavier silhouettes than the other ethnic groups. This implies that black mothers and daughters associate beauty, respect and happiness with a bigger body size.ConclusionResemblances exist between pre-adolescent girls and their mothers on issues related to ideal and attitudinal body image. In this regard, South African researchers should consider the effects ethnicity and family status on body image of women when developing targeted interventions to prevent or manage obesity.

Highlights

International studies suggest ethnic differences in obesity prevalence may be due, in part, to differences in body image and body size dissatisfaction between groups
In our previous study of 204 South African women and 333 pre-adolescent girls from different ethnic groups, we showed that overall, participants had appropriate perceptual body size, in that positive correlations were found between the silhouettes chosen by the participants to represent their ‘feel’ and their actual/measured body size and body fat percentage [3]
The ethnic effect was displayed, such that the mother-daughter dyads from black families chose significantly bigger sized silhouettes to reflect their ‘feel’ than the other ethnic groups of mother-daughter dyads (p < 0.01) (Table 3). This was despite the fact that the actual/measured body mass index (BMI) was significantly different between ethnic groups of mothers, but not for the girls

Summary

Introduction

International studies suggest ethnic differences in obesity prevalence may be due, in part, to differences in body image and body size dissatisfaction between groups. This research was conducted to identify the extent to which family status (presented as motherdaughter resemblance) and ethnicity impact on body image attitudes and perceptions of South African mothers and their pre-adolescent daughters. In their study Puoane et al [6] found that only 22.1% of South African women of all races perceived themselves as being overweight, when 56.6% of women interviewed were classified as overweight and obese These findings were influenced by ethnicity in that only 27% of overweight or obese black women correctly perceived themselves as overweight compared to 65% of mixed ancestry and 100% of white overweight or obese women. Similar results have previously been observed in urban South African adolescent girls in that black adolescent participants were less dissatisfied with their body size and shape, and were less likely to desire a smaller body size than mixed ancestry and white girls [5,8]

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