Body image 'massively distorted' by brain

Body image 'massively distorted' by brain

Women are being urged not to risk ill-health by losing weight unnecessarily due to unfounded fears they are fat.

Scientists have discovered that the brain projects a "massively distorted" body image which can make people believe they are much larger than they really are.

A study at University College London, UK, found the false image presented by the brain can be up to two thirds wider and a third shorter than in reality.

And women could suffer from this effect more as they are generally more sensitive to their appearance, researchers said.

Dr Michael Longo, who led the research, said: "These findings may well be relevant to psychiatric conditions involving body image such as anorexia, as there may be a general bias towards perceiving the body to be wider than it is."

Maintaining a healthy diet with regular exercise is the key to regulating any weight loss but people should user their body mass index, rather than their own perception, to measure whether it is necessary.

According to scientists at the Universite de Montreal in Canada found that more than one in ten women suffer from eating disorders or problematic attitudes to food.