We all know that one person who always feel bad and complain about her body. ‘Oh, I’m too fat’, ‘I’m too thin’, ‘I have terrible stretch marks’, ‘I look ugly because of pimples on my face’; these are typical complaints that most people are fond of. Well, researchers believe that having such negative feelings about your body can cause you to become ill.
Two new researches from Bucknell University have found that your body insecurities could make you physically ill.
In the first research, 117 female undergraduates were used for the study. The researchers examined the degree of body shame among the study participants by asking how much they could relate to statements like, “When I’m not the size I think I should be, I feel ashamed.” The women’s health in the past five years was then taken into cognizance.
The second study had 181 participants go through the same examination as the first in the month of September, and a follow-up was done in December to find out whether body shame could predict a woman’s ill state come flu and cold season, controlling for depression, smoking, and body mass index.
The researchers found a link between women suffering from body shaming and a bad general health. They found that women with high levels of body shame got sick more frequently and reported poorer health overall; and body shame recorded in September showed up in the form of sickness come December.
The researchers believe that feeling negative about your body can actually predict a poor health. So, be proud of your body ladies. Take proper care of yourself and be proud of what you got; after all, there is no such thing as a perfect body.
S.O.Z