Body checking is the excessive monitoring of body weight, shape, or size. There are many forms of body checking; including analyzing the body in a mirror, using a scale to measure weight, taking measurements, or using clothing to measure body size. Although these habits can seem like normal daily occurrences, body checking can become harmful and lead to body image concerns or eating disorder behaviors.

By: Sadie Grant

What Is Body Checking?

Body checking is defined as obsessively or compulsively checking and analyzing one’s whole body or parts of the body. Body checking is part of a spectrum of behaviors related to weight/appearance evaluation. On the other end of the spectrum is body avoidance, which occurs when a person excessively avoids seeing their weight, shape, or appearance. Examples of body checking include, but are not limited to:

Compulsively or excessively checking one’s appearance in mirrors or reflective surfaces

Frequently weighing oneself
Checking or measuring the circumference of body parts such as the wrists, thighs, or stomach
Feeling for bones, fat, or muscle
Using clothing to assess changes in body size
Comparing the body to past photographs of oneself or others
Frequently making comments about body weight or shape

These behaviors are often present in those with eating disorders or disordered eating. Body checking is also common among those recovering from an eating disorder, often as a means of trying to understand how their body is changing. Additionally, a certain degree of body checking has become normalized within our culture, especially among young women. Body checking can be dangerous regardless of where a person falls on the spectrum and timeline of disordered eating.

How To Tell When Body Checking Becomes Dangerous

Body checking behaviors may become problematic if/when someone assessing their body affects their ability to focus, makes them limit their food intake, or leads them to withdraw from social activities. Body checking may be used to control one’s anxiety around food, but it can also affect other aspects of a person’s life.

Research indicates that frequent body checking can lead to higher perceived levels of body imperfection. Moreover, those who engage in body checking behaviors are more likely to experience anxiety and dissatisfaction with weight and appearance, putting them at greater risk of developing an eating disorder.

Body checking can also affect eating disorder recovery. For many people recovering from an eating disorder or disordered eating, monitoring changes in appearance and weight becomes a way to assess how the body is changing. These behaviors often lead to anxiety or panic associated with the changing body and can affect recovery. Unsurprisingly, treatment that directly addresses body checking behaviors has been shown to reduce fluctuations in body image and negative self-worth for those in recovery from an eating disorder.

How To Overcome Body Checking Behaviors

Many strategies are available to reduce body checking behaviors, including distraction, mindfulness, and anxiety reduction activities. Therapy can also help address body checking and lead to healthier coping skills. Some strategies that may help reduce body checking behaviors include:

Noting What Situations Make You want to Body Check

If a particular activity or place triggers the impulse, consider using skills to reduce anxiety related to the situation (see below) or avoid the situation altogether.

Tracking Body Checking Behaviors

Consider tracking body checking behaviors within 24 hours. How many times do you body check? How much time does it take out of your day? Use this data to set goals to reduce body checking behaviors.

Take a Social Media Break

Various studies have found that posting selfies and looking at photographs of celebrities and peers can increase anxiety about appearance and lower self-esteem. It may also be helpful to unfollow triggering accounts or spend time away from social media.

Try Alternative Coping Skills

If you experience anxiety around body weight, shape, or appearance, consider using a breathing exercise or listening to music to reduce stress. Another technique is to identify five things you see, four things you hear, three things you feel, two things you smell, and one thing you can touch. These strategies can help ground you in the present moment and bring your nervous system back to a neutral state.

Seek Treatment

If body checking lowers your self-esteem, impacts and affects your day-to-day functioning, or causes you anxiety, consider talking with a therapist. In therapy, you may identify the factors that lead to body checking and develop coping strategies.

Although it is not uncommon for people to want to change parts of their body based on what they see online or what they believe societal standards are, body checking can be harmful. It may be challenging to focus on other people or events if someone is continuously thinking about or checking what they perceive to be their flaws and insecurities. If not addressed and treated, body checking can significantly impact a person’s quality of life. However, it is possible to overcome these negative thoughts without body checking.

At BALANCE eating disorder treatment center™, we offer a variety of programs and services targeted at helping clients overcome disordered eating and develop a healthy relationship with food and their body. In addition to our full-time Day Treatment Program and Weeknight Intensive Outpatient Program, we offer nutrition counseling with a licensed dietitian, meal support, and various other groups and resources to assist those seeking help for food concerns.

Our admissions team would be happy to answer any questions you may have regarding our programs and services. Book a call below, or read more about our philosophy here.

This post was written by BALANCE Blog Contributor, Sadie Grant (she/her).

Sadie is a recent graduate of Oberlin College with a B.A. in psychology. After recovering from disordered eating, Sadie became passionate about eating disorder awareness, body neutrality, and destabilizing beauty standards that are established by social and cultural norms. While earning her Bachelor’s degree, Sadie conducted quantitative research, worked with populations experiencing barriers to essential services, and studied Spanish. Sadie hopes to use her developing research and interpersonal skills to work in the field of eating disorders and address the way in which expectations around eating and beauty vary across different populations.

References

Joy, R. (2020, October 16). What’s Body Checking and How Can You Control It? Healthline. https://www.healthline.com/health/body-checking.

Rittenhouse, M. (2020, October 29). Body Checking: What is it and Why is it Dangerous? Eating Disorder Hope. https://www.eatingdisorderhope.com/blog/what-body-checking-why-dangerous.

Unknown. (2020, December 24). Body Checking and Body Avoidance. The Emily Program. https://www.emilyprogram.com/blog/body-checking-and-body-avoidance/.