Menopausal stage and age and perceptions of body image

The aim of this study was to investigate the association between menopausal stage and age and women's perception of their body image. Females from a c ommunity sample (n = 304, age range from 35 to 65 years) volunteered to com plete a structured questionnaire which contained the Multidimensional Body Self Relations Questionnaire (MBSRQ) and the Stunkard Body Shape Figure Sca le. One hundred and twenty women were premenopausal, 76 women were perimeno pausal and 108 were postmenopausal. The effects of age and menopausal stage could not be separated in ratings of appearance evaluation, fitness evalua tion, cut-rent, ideal and societal ratings of the Stunkard Body Shape Figur e Scale. Premenopausal women (who were likely to be younger) had more posit ive ratings of appearance evaluation and fitness evaluation than menopausal women (who were likely to be older). Women who were premenopausal nominate d smaller figures from the Stunkard Body Shape Figure Scale for ratings of the current, ideal and societal body shape than women who were perimenopaus al and postmenopausal. The implications of these findings as they relate to women as they progress through the menopausal transition and as they becom e older is discussed.