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Body image interventions in rapidly developing populations

Low-income communities around the globe are experiencing rapid and accelerating increases in access to visual media via the internet and satellite television alongside substantial changes in diet, which put them at ever increasing risk of eating disorders and related pathologies. And yet, there is no evidence base demonstrating the best means of preventing these pernicious mental health conditions becoming entrenched. There is thus an urgent need to develop eating disorder prevention education suitable for communities experiencing rapid globalisation and economic development.

BIRES: Building body image resilience in populations undergoing rapid economic development

Funder: ERC Advanced Grant / UKRI Horizon Guarantee funding. 2024-2029 (€2.5M)

Principle Investigator: Prof Lynda Boothroyd
Team: Dr Elizabeth Evans, Dr Tracey Thornborrow, Dr Ana Chamorro Coneo, Dr William Flores, Dr Macdonald Matika, Dr Moises Mebarak, Dr Fabienne Andres
Collaborating universities: Universidad del Norte, Colombia; URACCAN, Nicaragua; University of Zimbabwe.

Read more here…

Past projects: Seed Award – Establishing Best Practice in Eating Disorder Prevention in LMICs

Principle Investigator: Prof Lynda Boothroyd
Collaborators: Prof Phillippa Diedrichs, Dr Elizabeth Evans, Dr Tracey Thornborrow, Dr Moises Mebarak, Dr David Kolar, Macdonald Matika, Prof Pascale Bovet

This Wellcome funded seedcorn project developed and piloted a body image education program in rural Nicaragua, and gathered survey and qualitative data on body image concerns in low-income barrios in Barranquilla, Colombia, and amongst Zimbabwean university students. Outcomes included, new translations of body image measures in Latin American Spanish, successful pilot data for the project above, and a new focus on broader ‘risk appearance altering behaviours’ beyond just eating disorders.

Outcomes:

  • Andres, F. E., Thornborrow, T., Bowie, W. N., Gonzalez, M., Evans, E. H., & Boothroyd, L. G. (2026). Assessing associations amongst body dissatisfaction, eating disorder symptoms and sociocultural influences in adolescents from rural Nicaragua. BMC Psychology, 14(1), Article 32. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-025-03728-3
  • Andres et al. (2025) Pilot trial assessing acceptability, feasibility, and preliminary effects of a body image intervention for adolescents in rural Nicaragua. Body Image, 55, Article 101970. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2025.101970
  • Andres, F. E., Boothroyd, L. G., Thornborrow, T., Chamorro, A. M., Dutra, N. B., Brar, M., Woodward, R., Malik, N., Sawhney, M., & Evans, E. H. (2024). Relationships between media influence, body image and sociocultural appearance ideals in Latin America: A systematic literature review. Body Image, 51, Article 101774. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2024.101774
  • Andres, et al. (2023). Validation of a Latin-American Spanish version of the Body Esteem Scale for Adolescents and Adults (BESAA-LA) in Colombian and Nicaraguan adults. Journal of Eating Disorders, 11(1), Article 219. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40337-023-00942-5