We do not reveal any secret that having a negative body image about ourselves can lower our self-esteem and make us feel depressed and sad. However, a team of researchers from the Süleyman Demirel University School of Medicine (Turkey) has decided to go one step further, stating that body image also has an important impact on quality of life. The study has been published in the journal PloS One.
Quality of life has to do with a whole series of factors and some of them are directly related to physical health. To measure the “quality of life” the scientists used in their study a questionnaire from the World Health Organization (WHO) that divides it into four main categories: physical quality of life, psychological quality of life, social quality of life and quality of environmental life.
To obtain information on how body image affected quality of life, the researchers had participants take this questionnaire as well as another survey about their body image.
Analysis of the data revealed that people who had a negative body image also tended to have significantly poorer quality of life. Not only that, but body image seemed to have a detrimental effect on each of the four categories of quality of life.
These results suggest that, in addition to being a mental health problem, negative body image can harm physical health and overall quality of life. On the other hand, say the authors of the work, a more positive body image can mean a higher quality of life.
