Mirroring Women's Poor Body Image

Fitness facility managers, you may want to think before outfitting your group exercise room with floor-to-ceiling mirrors on the wall: Doing so may lead your members to bemoan that they are not the fairest of them all.

A recent study published in Health Psychology (2003; 22 [4]) found that a mirrored exercise environment can contribute to negative body image concerns among inactive women. Participants performed a 20-minute exercise bout in front of either a mirrored or a nonmirrored wall. Regardless of the subjects’ levels of body dissatisfaction, those who exercised in front of a mirror reported feeling worse afterward than those who exercised with no mirror.

The researchers concluded that these results “have implications for promoting exercise among sedentary women.” >

Diane Lofshult

IDEA Author/Presenter

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Diane Lofshult is a contributing editor for IDEA Fitness Journal and an award-winning free... morelance author who specializes in nutrition and weight management topics. She is the founder of In Other Words, an editorial consulting firm based in Solana Beach, California. Reach her at lofshult@roadrunner.com. less

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