Functionality appreciation is associated with improvements in positive and negative body image in patients with an eating disorder and following recovery

People with an eating disorder often suffer from a negative body image. This negative body image has been found to be hard to treat. Recently researchers started to not only look at ways to decrease negative body image but also enhance positive body image. It has been found that it is beneficial for people with a negative body image to learn to focus on appreciating the functions of the body (body functionality appreciation), as this leads to a more positive body image. However, this research was done on people without an eating disorder. In this questionnaire study, we looked at whether there is a relationship between body functionality appreciation and body image in patients with a (self-reported) eating disorder diagnosis and those who are recovered from an eating disorder. We found that functionality appreciation is associated with increased positive body image and decreased negative body image in all groups. Further studies should investigate the effectiveness of clinical interventions that focus on body functionality appreciation to enhance body image