Perceptions of body image among working men and women.

The British Government has expressed concern about media images that equate female beauty with extreme thinness. In 2000 the Minister for Women, Tessa Jowell, held a series of meetings with representatives from modelling agencies and teenage magazines to discuss possible links between the use of thin models in the fashion industry, and mental health and eating disorders among girls and women. Given that lay definitions of overweight may be diVerent from medical definitions, it is important to explore whether people’s perceptions of their weight diVer from “objective” measurements such as body mass index (BMI). A concern with thinness is often seen as a woman only problem. Is this true?