Abstract
Background: Images depicting morbidly obese models often accompany articles about the health risks of being overweight. We investigated whether a mismatch between the body size depicted, and that of the health message’s target population, affects risk perception.
Methods: 587 participants (291 overweight/ obese and 296 healthy weight participants) were randomly allocated to read a health message presented with: a photo of an overweight model, a photo of a morbidly obese model or no photo. Models were presented on exactly the same background and were gender specific.
Results: Overweight/ obese participants viewing a morbidly obese image perceived health risks to start from a higher body weight than those who saw the health message alongside no image (F(2, 291)= 3.161, p= .044).
Discussion: The findings suggest that exaggerated media images might affect how overweight individuals interpret message about health risks.
Methods: 587 participants (291 overweight/ obese and 296 healthy weight participants) were randomly allocated to read a health message presented with: a photo of an overweight model, a photo of a morbidly obese model or no photo. Models were presented on exactly the same background and were gender specific.
Results: Overweight/ obese participants viewing a morbidly obese image perceived health risks to start from a higher body weight than those who saw the health message alongside no image (F(2, 291)= 3.161, p= .044).
Discussion: The findings suggest that exaggerated media images might affect how overweight individuals interpret message about health risks.
| Original language | English |
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| Publication status | Published - Jul 2013 |
| Event | European Health Psychology Conference 2013 - Bordeaux, France Duration: 16 Jul 2013 → 20 Jul 2013 |
Conference
| Conference | European Health Psychology Conference 2013 |
|---|---|
| Country/Territory | France |
| City | Bordeaux |
| Period | 16/07/13 → 20/07/13 |
