Shifting goalposts: widening discrepancies between girls’ actual and ideal bodies predict disordered eating from preadolescence to adulthood

Abstract

Background: Little is known regarding how disordered eating (DE) relates to perceived actual body size, ideal body size, and their discrepancy. This study examined changes in perceived actual body size, ideal body size, and actual-ideal discrepancies over time, and their relationship with subsequent DE. Methods: Participants were 759 female twins from the Minnesota Twin Family Study who reported on body image and DE every three to five years between approximately ages 11 to 29. We used multilevel modeling to examine developmental trajectories of body mass index (BMI) and Body Rating Scale Actual, Ideal, and Actual-Ideal discrepancy scores and compared the degree to which BMI, BRS body size perceptions, and body dissatisfaction predicted DE behaviors and attitudes over time. Participants were treated as singletons in analyses. Results: Perceived Actual body sizes and BMIs increased from age 10 to 33, whereas Ideal body sizes remained largely stable across time, resulting in growing Actual-Ideal discrepancies. Body size perceptions and Actual–Ideal discrepancies predicted subsequent DE behaviors and attitudes more strongly than did body dissatisfaction as measured by self-report questionnaires. Conclusions: This research advances understanding of how female body size perceptions and ideals change across development and highlights their relationship with subsequent DE.