The impact of body mass index and Western advertising and media on eating style, body image and nutrition transition among Jordanian women.

摘要

Nutrition transition is the term used to describe the adoption of modern diets high in fat, sugar and salt, in favour of traditional diets high in fibre, grains, fruits and vegetables. This study investigated the impact of body mass index (BMI) and Western advertising and media on the extent of nutrition transition, eating styles and body image among Jordanian women. A randomised cross-sectional survey was conducted that included a variety of culturally measured Likert-type scales and body size images. In addition, BMI was calculated based on measured height and wt. Data were collected in the homes of participants by female interviewers who worked for the Jordan Department of Statistics. Subjects included a random and representative selection of 800 mostly urban Jordanian women. A pre-test sample of 100 women was also used to validate the instruments. Women tended to agree that they ate based on emotional cues. They had high levels of disordered eating attitudes and behaviours and 42.1% were considered restrained eaters. However, these women also had higher than expected body esteem levels and desired a healthy body size. As expected, being obese was associated with a desire to lose wt., being a restrained and emotional eater, and having more disordered eating attitudes and behaviours. Similarly, Western advertising and media were associated with restrained and emotional eating, desired wt. loss and disordered eating attitudes and behaviours. It is concluded that there is a need to develop health education materials that explain the influence of obesity on health and the negative psychological and physical consequences of restrained and emotional eating, building on the current cultural preferences of healthy body size. Further implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.