A moving target: Ideal body size following weight loss surgery

Weight-loss surgery (WLS) patients often experience changes in body image post-surgery, but the nature of this relationship has been unclear. The current study longitudinally assessed the discrepancy between perceived current and ideal body size before participants underwent WLS and at multiple time points during the first 2 years following surgery. As hypothesized, a mixed models analysis (N = 327) revealed that as participants’ perceived current body size decreased following surgery in conjunction with weight loss, their ideal body size also decreased, resulting in a continued discrepancy between current and ideal body size. Thus, ideal body size may become a moving target post-WLS. Implications for WLS patients are discussed.