Relatively little research considers how our thoughts, feelings and behaviours relating to our bodies (often known as ‘body image’ in the research literature) are shaped by our socioeconomic status. What research there is tends to focus on weight (dis)satisfaction or weight misperception; however, contemporary body image theory suggests there is more to body image than concerns about weight and sociological work suggests that this focus on weight may be a particularly middle class component of feelings about the body. It is important to understand how body image concerns may be different among varied socioeconomic groups, as this may help to design interventions that are accessible and relevant across these groups. Additionally, body image concerns may have different relationships with important outcomes (eg. health behaviour, wellbeing, education) depending on socioeconomic status; however, these relationships have not previously been investigated.
Using the ALSPAC data, we will investigate two key questions:
1. How are children’s evaluations of their own appearance, appearance ideals, and appearance changing behaviours shaped by socioeconomic status?
2. Does children’s body image at age 13 predict health, wellbeing, and educational outcomes later in adolescence, and do these relationships vary by socioeconomic status?
The ALSPAC’s longitudinal nature, large representative sample, and inclusion of multiple body-image related measures (unlike many existing large cohort datasets) enables us to address these questions.