Does women’s attitudinal state body image improve after one session of posture correction exercises?

Physically active people are usually more satisfied with their bodies than are sedentary people (Davis, 2002), but the influences exerted by physical activity on body image (BI) are not clear. In the current study, the effects of a posture correction exercise (PCE) session on attitudinal state BI were examined. We wanted to know if a single PCE session could have an immediate and positive influence on attitudinal state BI in women. Participants (217 women) were randomized into 2 groups either taking part in a PCE (experimental condition) or a reading-a-newspaper (RN; control condition) session, in a cross-over design. Before and after PCE and RN sessions, participants completed the Body Image States Scale (Cash, Fleming, Alindogan, Steadman, & Whitehead, 2002), indicating their attitudinal state BI at that time. Results showed an immediate increase in state BI scores after a 1-hour PCE session, suggesting that the acute effect of PCE causes an improvement in attitudinal state BI.