Body image satisfaction is often conceptualized as a discrepancy between current and ideal body shape (Garner, Garfinkel, & O'Shauhnessy, 1985), or the degree of negative feelings about body shape, body parts and weight (Cash, Fleming, Alindogan, Steadman, & Whitehead, 2002). Dissatisfaction with body image is regarded as a risk and maintenance factor in eating pathologies, such as obesity, binge eating, anorexia and bulimia nervosa (Edman, Yeates, Aruguete, & DeBored, 2005; Stice & Shaw, 2002) and appears to be associated with attempts to restrain ones food intake. Restrained eaters have the intention of controlling their weight, but often fail and indulge in high-fat palatable foods that they normally do not allow themselves to eat (Herman & Polivy, 1980). According to cognitive behavioral models, low body image satisfaction reinforces dieting; this in turn is thought to foster the development of eating pathology (Stice & Shaw, 2002). Research revealed that body image satisfaction fluctuates (Melnyk, Cash, & Janda, 2004) and changes with context, especially in persons who are concerned about weight and shape (Tiggemann, 2001).
An important factor that causes fluctuations in body image satisfaction is food intake (Gardner, Espinoza, Urrutia, Morrell, & Gallegos, 1990; Lattimore, 2005 and Lattimore et al., 2008; Vocks, Legenbauer, & Heil, 2007; Wardle & Foley, 1989). A possible explanation for this phenomenon is that a person's expectations of the consequences of eating (e.g., weight gain) elicit these changes (Bruch, 1973). Apart from one study (Pietrowsky, Straub, & Hachl, 2003), research shows that the consumption of food causes the desire to be thinner or reduced shape and weight satisfaction. This effect was found to vary with restraint and body mass index (BMI; kg/m2). Vocks et al. (2007) showed that consumption of a high-caloric milkshake induced a decrease in body image satisfaction and that this reduction was positively correlated to restraint and worries about weight and shape. Wardle and Foley (1989) in contrast reported that food intake decreases body image satisfaction in unrestrained eaters, compared to restrained eaters (Wardle & Foley, 1989). Other studies, additionally, implicated BMI as a moderator of this effect (Gardner et al., 1990 and Lattimore, 2005). Lattimore (2005) found that BMI, but not restraint, moderated the relation between food intake and body shape satisfaction. Lean participants rated their current body size larger and showed a larger discrepancy between current and ideal size when satiated than when hungry. Overweight participants were unaffected by the manipulation. Gardner et al. (1990) studied the effects of satiety and hunger in lean and overweight participants. Lean participants’ body size ratings were little affected by food intake. Overweight participants in turn estimated their body size larger after having eaten. As findings are equivocal, it remains uncertain how exactly food induced changes in body image satisfaction are moderated by BMI and restraint.
Importantly, previous research often required participants to consume high-caloric food in full awareness of its calorific content (Lattimore et al., 2008). Hence, changes in body image satisfaction could be due to cognitions about the expected effects of food intake instead of the direct effects of eating. Regarding that possibility, Lattimore et al. (2008) suggested that food cue availability might play a role in triggering food related changes in body image satisfaction. They found that when visual cues of a high-caloric meal were available, eating led to a reduction in body image satisfaction in overweight, compared to lean females. When visual food cues were removed, eating a high-caloric meal resulted in reduced body image satisfaction in lean females, whereas overweight females tended to show an improved body image. So, the findings of food intake studies could be attributed to both; the expectations about the effects of food intake, or to the direct, physical effects of the food (e.g., ingestion, fullness, or stomach ache). A recent study, which was conducted to elucidate this interpretative problem of food intake studies has shown that high-caloric food cues alone bring about decreases in weight satisfaction and that this effect is more pronounced in individuals with higher dietary restraint ( Geschwind, Roefs, Jansen, Lattimore, & Fett, 2008). However, how the effect of food cues is influenced by BMI has not been investigated.
The current study aimed to provide a more comprehensive test of whether cognitive effects of food cues can cause changes in body image satisfaction. We used a food cue exposure paradigm where individuals were not allowed to eat during the experimental procedure. To investigate how BMI and dietary restraint moderate the effects of food cues on body image satisfaction we examined lean (BMI < 25) unrestrained, lean restrained, and overweight (BMI > 25) restrained females. We expected that high-caloric food cues would cause decreased body image satisfaction in restrained individuals and that this effect would be more pronounced in those with a high BMI.
