Dance therapy improves self-body image among obese patients

Objective: Obesity and disturbed eating behaviors are both associated with low self-esteem and distorted body images. The aim of this study was to assess the influence of a dance therapy program on the evolution of mental representations linked to body image among obese patients. Changes in body image were evaluated in terms of four parameters: physical, psychological, cognitive, and social. Methods: In total, 18 obese patients were enrolled in a longitudinal dance therapy workshop (DTW) program lasting 36 weeks. Patients danced for 2 h per week and were evaluated three times: at baseline, after 18 weeks, and at the end of the study (36 weeks). Evaluation was performed using questionnaires addressing health-related quality of life, sensorial-motor perception, and mental representations linked to body schema and self-body image. Results: Obese patients enrolled in the DTW displayed a significant improvement in health-related quality of life (p < 0.03), body consciousness (p < 0.001), and mental representations linked to self body image (p < 0.001). Conclusion: DTW allowed obese patients to reset both their somatic and psychic consciousness of their body image. Practice implications: Patients are usually reluctant to practice physical activity. Dance therapy improves not only body image, but also psycho-social aspects of their personality. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.