Investigation of the relationship of weight-loss diet practices and weighing frequency on mental well-being and body image

The main purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between weight-loss diet practices, mental well-being and body image among groups that have never dieted, dieted in the past and are on a diet actively. In addition, it is aimed to evaluate the main motivations and preferred diet methods of the participants who turn to diets for weight loss and to analyse the relationship between dieting and weighing frequency with mental well-being and body image. 518 adult individuals between the ages of 18-65 from different provinces of Turkey participated in the research and completed the sociodemographic form, the Body Image Scale, and the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale. The SPSS v26 program was used for data analysis. Looking at the dietary motivations of the participants who have dieted in the past and are on a diet, health and appearance were observed as the main reasons for the desire to lose weight, respectively. When the distribution of preferred dieting methods is examined, it has come to the forefront that people eat healthier in line with their own knowledge, follow a diet list with expert support, and restrict their energy intake in line with their own information framework, respectively. A significant negative correlation was found between dieting frequencies and body image and mental well-being mean scores of participants who dieted in the past or are on a diet. While a negative and statistically significant relationship was found between the frequency of weighing and the mean score of body image, no statistically significant relationship was observed between the frequency of weighing and mental well-being. It has been revealed that the mean score of body image and mental well-being of the participants who have never dieted and dieted in the past are significantly higher than the mean score of the participants who are on a diet actively. It was concluded that there was no statistically significant relationship between the body mass index, desired body mass index, body image and mental well-being mean scores of the participants who are on diet actively.