Body appreciation, or lack of it, has been found to be similar across all age groups as signs emerge of body image pressure spreading across cultural groups.
Research published by the Public Library of Science found body appreciation did not vary with age in women from any country.
Nigerian women reported the highest body appreciation, and Western women the lowest.
Lower body appreciation was linked to the view held by many women that a thin, athletic build was ideal.
Low body image was also strongly influenced by “perceived sociocultural pressure” across all countries and age groups.
The researchers, from Durham University in the United Kingdom, reviewed measures of body appreciation among 1186 women aged from 18 to 80.
The group included women in the UK, United States, Canada, Australia, Nigeria and China.
“Previous research on body appreciation across the lifespan has produced conflicting results that it increases with age, decreases with age, or is generally stable with an increase in women over 50-years-old,” the research report said.
“Overall, our findings indicate that although levels of body appreciation differ drastically between ethnicities and cultures, it is generally stable across age.”
“Cross-cultural research suggests that both Chinese and African women experience similar sociocultural pressures as White Western women, and that appearance ideals are shifting to resemble a more Western ideal.”
A review of previous research revealed that, while body satisfaction and dissatisfaction were generally stable across age, women over the age of 50 had significantly higher body appreciation.
“The authors (of the earlier research) theorise that this is due to older women’s bodies increasingly diverging from the societal ideal and therefore being ‘forced’ to accept and appreciate their bodies for their functionality and health over their physical appearance,” the study report said.
“It may be the case that women think more fondly about their more youthful bodies than they did when they were inhabiting them.”
The study linked increasing globalisation of Western media with a preference for thinner bodies in non-Western populations.
“The results of the current study can be used when developing positive body image interventions, especially when considering a cross-cultural and lifespan perspective,” the report said.
“For instance, body appreciation did not noticeably increase with age and as such older women may also benefit from the body image interventions which are largely targeted at younger populations.”
The researchers said Chinese women may benefit from programs that targeted their perceptions of ideal body shape.
In Western countries there may be a need to address perceived media pressure to conform to an ideal body image.
The full report can be found on the PLOS website.
