The relationship of weight loss decision with body image and quality of life in overweight and obese individuals

Objective: Obesity is the second most common cause of preventable death in today's world. Although it has become a public health problem in today's world regardless of the level of development of countries, there is still no definitive treatment. Body perception is the reflection of one's own body in the mind.(11) This reflection includes feelings and experiences about the body and self. The concept of quality of life includes the state of being healthy, but the state of being medically unhealthy cannot always exclude the perception of high quality of life. Studies have shown that people who perceive themselves as healthier than they are are prone to exhibit healthrisk behaviours. This study aimed to investigate whether there is a relationship between the weight loss decision process and the quality of life associated with body perception. Method: In our descriptive, cross-sectional study, 215 people who applied to Dokuz Eylül University education family health centres between 01.10.2021 and 01.10.2022 November and met the inclusion criteria were included. The study was carried out by face-to-face survey method. Participants were asked to fill in the sociodemographic data questionnaire, weight loss decision-making balance scale, the effect of body image on quality of life scale and questions about the status of application to health services. The collected data were evaluated using SPSS 24.0 programme. The level of significance was accepted as p<0.05. Results: The mean body mass index of the participants was 31.3±3.6. 69.3% were aware of their overweight or obesity, while 30.7% did not think that they had overweight or obesity. Participants had an average score of 28.827±17.931 on the xii effect of body image on quality of life scale. They had a mean score of 26.116±8.508 in the positive subgroup and 15.827±5.812 in the negative subgroup of the weight loss decision balance scale. BMI averages were higher in women than in men, in primary school graduates than in university graduates, in those who were not working than in those who were working, and in those with chronic diseases than in those without chronic diseases. Conclusion: No statistically significant relationship was found between the effect of body image on quality of life and weight loss decision balance. Since the decision to lose weight is an individual and time-varying process, more comprehensive studies are needed to evaluate the relationship between this decision and body image and quality of life. Keywords: Obesity, weight loss decision, quality of life, body image