Attentional processing of body images in women with overweight and obesity

PURPOSE: Despite the claim to integrate body image interventions in obesity treatment, little is known about the mechanisms involved in maintaining body dissatisfaction in persons with overweight and obesity. Therefore, the present study sought to investigate attentional processing of body stimuli in women with overweight and obesity (OW). METHODS: Women with OW (n = 82) and normal weight controls (NW; n = 44) conducted two eye-tracking paradigms. In the first paradigm, fixation duration on the subjectively most beautiful and ugliest body part of one’s own and a weight-matched control body were analyzed. In the second paradigm, picture pairs including the own and a control body or object were presented and initial fixation orientation was measured. Automatic and intentional processing of the body pictures was manipulated by either indicating on which side which stimuli would appear or not. RESULTS: Women with OW displayed a bias towards the ugliest as opposed to the most beautiful body part, whereas women with NW showed a balanced viewing pattern. Furthermore, both groups showed a preference for bodies relative to the object. However, only women with OW preferred their own relative to the control body during intentional processing. CONCLUSION: Taken together, results point towards a self-focused and deficit-oriented gaze pattern in women with overweight and obesity. Targeting these processes might help to improve obesity treatment outcomes. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level I, experimental study. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40519-022-01419-1.