Description

INTRODUCTION According to WHO, overweight and obesity are defined as abnormal or excessive fat accumulation that presents a risk to health. A body mass index (BMI) over 25 is considered overweight, and over 30 is obese. The issue has grown to epidemic proportions, with over 4 million people dying each year as a result of being overweight or obese in 2017 according to the global burden of disease. It affects individual's health by creating physical and mental problems (Wilfley, Kolko & Kass, 2011). These people suffer from problems with their perception and self-concept. Hence they have incorrect perception about their body which is termed as negative body image. This concept was initially set forth by Schilder (1935). Body image is the mental image that individual forms about themselves which could be real or not (Lobera and R os, 2011). Slade (1994) expanded this concept by explaining it as a mental image we have of the size, shape and contour of our own bodies, as well as of our feelings regarding these characteristics and parts that forms our bodies. Body image disorder is an important aspect in formation of obesity and is considered as risk factor in creating weight control behavior, body dysmorphia, low self-esteem, eating disorder and mental disorders such as anxiety, depression and negative mood, in women especially (Van Den Berg, Neumark-Sztainer, Hannan and Haines, 2007). In contrast, obese women with positive body image are very much satisfied with their body because they accept their physical flaws and focus on other aspects of their appearance (Fris n and Holmqvist, 2010). Throughout life-span, obesity is highly stigmatized and discrimination against obese people may affect their social, educational and economic aspects (DeJong and Kleck, 1986). It is rightly said that being obese seriously affect one's body image (Stunkard & Mendelson, 1967; Cash & Green, 1986). Physical appearance has a greater impact on ones lives especially in adolescents, as it is a period of change in one's body. It has strong influence on their looks, popularity and peer acceptance. Body image concerns are prevalent across lifespan and are one of the most crucial parts of adolescent's life affecting their interpersonal relationships, physical activities and self-concept. In this modern era, media has played a very important role in affecting individual's body image through television, films, music videos, newspapers, magazines and internet sites, particularly in adolescents because they haven't reached the cognitive level to critically analyze and determine reasonable levels of 'realistic goals' (Hargreaves and Tiggemann, 2003). Such kind of exposure resulted in high level of body image