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Home > Embrace Life > Wellness > Quiz: Do you have a healthy body image?

Quiz: Do you have a healthy body image?

Is your body image hurting your self-esteem? Take this quiz to find your body image type, and how it impacts your life

By Lesley Young

Most of us have “bad body days.” They tend to occur after spying another wrinkle, when eating a second helping or while flipping through a fashion magazine—stuff that’s pretty much par for the course for most women. But when you let yourself feel down about your body, hating one particular feature, or find yourself chatting with gal pals about “how fat” you feel, these are signs of poor body image. All nibble away at your self-esteem, says Shelly Russell-Mayhew, a registered psychologist and assistant professor in the division of applied psychology at the University of Calgary.

“The female definition of beauty has narrowed over time, and now it’s an impossible standard,” she says. “Women—and increasingly men—are spending extraordinary amounts of time, energy and money on making themselves look better.” At some point in our lives, most of us have cycled through the different levels of body acceptance, which Russell-Mayhew defines as the ability to recognize and understand that how one’s body looks is only one part of who we are. Some people end up defining their success in life based solely on outward appearance. Obsession with body image can lead to social isolation, eating disorders and even depression. Is your body image getting in the way of a healthy, happy and successful life?

1. At a restaurant, the waiter asks whether you’d like to see the dessert menu. You are most likely to think:

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5 Comments

I had bad body issues and then I said to myself, "you know your not going to wake up tomorrow looking like someone else, so you have two choices, either go all out and get every surgery under the sun, spend thousand of dollars sculpting yourself through painful means into looking 'perfect' or, accept the fact that your body is the way that it is" I chose the latter, and yes, I do eat healthy and exercise but I also wear a padded bra (I'll never be fit, healthy and a C cup) I draw attention away from my hips (they will always be wider than my shoulders, and I emphasize my attractive qualities as much as I can. Perfect? No, but I don't care! Happy? Yes! Healthy? Yes! I've chosen to be happy, healthy, and me and that is way better than siliconed, surgically sculpted and enhanced any day!

Submitted by Elaine on Fri, 2012-04-20 5:39pm.

I agree this quiz was a little one sided. In the question where the friend said "You look skinny." I wouldn't have answered any of the answers given. I am naturally underweight and try to put on muscle and weight to get curves as I have none. All those answers were for women who feel overweight. Same with the getting undressed one it was all about love handles, I worry about my hip bones sticking out to far. It is both ways women who are skinny have body image problems too.

Submitted by Natasha on Wed, 2012-04-18 11:18pm.

This questionaire is stupid. Just because I am confident with my body doesn't mean that I'm fat and happy about it. It means I accept myself and I have found my ideal body weight.

Submitted by Micheala on Wed, 2012-04-18 9:13pm.

Yup, this really is a dumb quiz with inappropriate answer choices.

Submitted by zsa zsa on Wed, 2012-04-18 6:07pm.

This didn't make any sense to me. Half the time my responses to the situations had nothing to do with body image, but that wasn't a possible response to the question!

For instance, at a restauraunt I would look at the dessert menu based upon how much money I have, and how full I feel. My weight would not be a factor.

If a co-worker got promoted, I doubt the first thing on my mind would be "Oh, they were promoted due to appearance!"

This entire questionnaire was ridiculous.

Submitted by Matt on Wed, 2012-04-18 12:41pm.