title: Body image and body weight in obese patients.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the influence of body weight on body image.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study was carried out in severely obese patients and in postobese subjects, having attained and maintaining a normal or nearly normal weight following biliopancreatic diversion; body image was assessed by self-report questionnaires.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The obese patients' scores were different from those of postobese subjects. In postobese individuals with adult-onset obesity, body image was very similar to that of controls, whilst in those with early-onset obesity it was abnormal.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In the adult-onset obese patients, since the weight normalization causes a sharp improvement of body image, its alterations could be accounted for by a body shape far different from that socially acceptable. In the early-onset obese patients, being the postoperative findings similar to those of the obese patients and different from those of never-obese controls, the body image disparagement might reflect inner feelings, independent of body weight.
authors.affiliation: Istituto di Clinica Chirurgica, Facoltà di Medicina, Università di Genova, Italy.
authors.forename: G F
authors.initials: GF
authors.lastname: Adami
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gandolfo
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Campostano
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Meneghelli
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ravera
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Scopinaro
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001828:Body Image; D001835:Body Weight; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000523:psychology*; D010555:Personality Inventory