Body image has complex psychological and physical characteristics, with continually changing physical feelings, emotions and aspects of self worth. It is sensitive to moods, emotions and water weight retention. Through interaction with other people, perceptions develop about body image and strengthen what we learn culturally.

The University of British Columbia (Department of Psychiatry) studied how women with anorexia nervosa express negative feelings. The study involved 21 women with anorexia nervosa (according to DSM-IV criteria) in comparison to 21 normal women. Those with anorexia scored higher for anger suppression and difficulty in expressing negative emotions (published in 2000 in the International Journal of Eating Disorders).

Poor body image alone does not lead to bulimia or anorexia. It occurs in all people (not just college students or teens) and could become problematic in school going age children and preteens. Poor body image revolves around various complex psychological issues which do not essentially end up as eating disorders which cause severe damage to body organs and system.

A 16 month study by the University of Melbourne (School of Psychology) in Australia intended to evaluate the utilization of biopsychosocial models to clarify body image amongst normal and overweight girls and boys.

Questionnaires assessed the predictive roles of self-esteem, Body Mass Index (BMI) and apparent pressures to achieve weight loss in girls and boys (ages of 9.2 to 9.3 years). The study concluded, after 18 months, that overweight girls and boys were most likely to be unhappy about and focus on their weight, while they also suffered from low self-esteem (lower than peers of normal weight). The journal Appetite, published the study in 2005.

A study, over 12 months, by the University of Washington of grade 7 and 10 girls and boys, researched ways that body dissatisfaction developed and how peer and social relations, psychological factors and body mass index contributed towards it. Results indicated that body dissatisfaction in girls resulted from appearance comparison, conversations with friends and body mass while boys internalized theirs via comparisons of themselves to muscular ideals. These findings appeared in 2004 in the journal of Developmental Psychology.

Another Australian study, published in 2006 in the Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, by the School of Psychological Science, Melbourne, found that body dissatisfaction is a great risk factor for developing low self-esteem and depression.

Psychology studies regarding body image identifies why and how people react but don't necessarily devise ways to improve circumstances. Only by successfully evaluating psychological effects and implementing effective treatment methods will people learn ways to deal with eating disorders and correct their perceptions regarding body image.