Objective
The current study examined body image concerns and eating disordered behaviors in a community sample of Black and Hispanic women. In addition, this study explored whether there are ethnic differences in the correlates or in the prediction of body image concerns.
Method
Participants were 120 (67 Black and 53 Hispanic) women who responded to advertisements to participate in a study of women and health. Participants completed a battery of established self-report measures to assess body image, eating disordered behaviors, and associated psychological domains.
Results
Black and Hispanic women did not differ significantly in their self-reports of body image, eating disordered behaviors, or associated psychological measures. Comparisons performed separately within both ethnic groups revealed significant differences by weight status, with a general graded patterning of greater concerns in obese than overweight than average weight groups. In terms of predicting body image, multiple regression analyses testing a number of variables, including BMI, performed separately for Black and Hispanic women revealed that eating concern and depressive affect were significant predictors of body image concern for both groups.
Discussion
Overall, Black and Hispanic women differed little in their self-reports of body image, eating-disordered features, and depressive affect. Higher weight was associated with a general pattern of increased body image concerns and features of eating disorders in both groups and with binge eating in Black women. Eating concerns and depressive affect emerged as significant independent predictors of body image for both ethnic groups.
Research on ethnic differences in eating- and weight-related constructs has resulted in an equivocal literature. Shaw, Ramirez, Trost, Randall, and Stice (2004), in their critical review, noted that studies in the 1980s tended to report that ethnic minorities endorsed lower eating disturbances than Caucasian individuals, while more recent research has generally suggested few significant ethnic differences. Yet, despite these overall trends, some recent studies have continued to find greater pathology among Caucasian than ethnic minority groups on measures of body image and eating behavior (e.g., Neumark-Sztainer et al., 2002, White & Grilo, 2005 and White et al., 2003), while others have reported conflicting findings. For example, Fitzgibbon et al. (1998) found Hispanic women to report higher concerns with binge eating than their Black and White counterparts.
It has become increasingly clear that it is not just White, middle- and upper-class females who are at risk for developing body image and eating disturbances, a “myth” that Yanovski (2000) notes is still widely maintained in our society. Indeed, as Yanovski argued, individuals belonging to diverse racial and ethnic groups may be at comparable risk for developing body image problems and disordered eating patterns. For example, in a study of fourth- and fifth-grade Black and Hispanic girls, Vander Wal and Thomas (2004) found that 10.1% and 12.7% of these respective samples had scores on the Children's Eating Attitude Test (ChEAT) suggestive of an eating disorder. Therefore, research must continue to work toward the development of a more comprehensive understanding of the patterns of body image- and eating-related variables among all ethnic groups, especially those of Black and Hispanic descent, as these are two of the fasting growing minority groups in the United States (United States Census Bureau, 2005).
Shaw et al.'s (2004) review of the literature suggested that there now seems to be increased parity among 4 ethnic groups: Asian, Black, Hispanic, and White. In an effort to extend our knowledge of such ethnic differences (and similarities), we aimed to further examine body image and eating behaviors of Black and Hispanic women from a community sample. We were interested in determining if and how these two minority groups differ in these variables, as well as how previously supported predictors of eating problems relate to, and predict, both body image and eating behavior.
