The Psychosomatic Perspective - Body size estimation in obesity: a novel insight from the implicit/explicit model of body representations

Background: Individuals affected by obesity often report body representation impairments that involve a distorted perception of body size. Previous experimental studies of body size estimation in obesity have provided an inconsistent pattern of results. These controversial experimental findings will be interpreted in the light of a renewed theoretical framework, the implicit/explicit model of body representations. Finally, I will present our recent research that purports to investigate the possible distortions of the implicit body representation that have been scarcely explored in individuals affected by obesity. Methods: An adapted version of the body landmarks detection task was adopted. Participants had to lo locate each fingertip and knuckle of a hidden hand. The distance between each fingertip and knuckle was then used as an implicit measure of the represented fingers length and the distance between the little finger and the index was used as an implicit measure of the represented hand width. Results: Coherently with previous studies, healthy weight individuals underestimated fingers length and overestimated hand width. Interestingly, a comparable pattern of distortions was found also in obesity. Thus, the two populations seem to have a similar implicit body representation. Conclusions: Body dissatisfaction might have a role in the distortions previously found in the explicit body representations of individuals affected by obesity, while the implicit body representation might be unaffected by emotional factors.