The accuracies of body size perception have been found to be associated with level of mental health in the general population as well as the understanding, prevention and treatment of eating disorders. However, number of empirical studies in this field is limited and the findings are largely heterogeneous. First of all, patients with eating disorders overestimated their own body. The accuracies might be influenced by personal BMI as well as severity and prognosis of the disorders. Second, by comparing the estimation of one’s own body size with others among individuals with eating disorders, it was also found that the overestimation of one’s own body size was partly influenced by their attitudes towards own body. Third, studies on body size perception in the general population have not yet reached consistent conclusions, which may be influenced by the assessment methods. Finally, three cognitive mechanisms underlying distorted body size perception have been proposed, namely contraction bias, adaptive aftereffect and serial dependence.

体型知觉的准确性既和一般人群的心理健康水平有关,又对进食障碍的理解、预防和治疗具有重要意义。首先,进食障碍患者可能高估自己的身体,其体型知觉准确度可能受其BMI和症状的影响,并与患者预后相关。其次,通过和对他人体型估计的结果进行对比发现,对自己的体型的高估可能受到对自己身体态度因素的影响。第三,一般人群对自己的体型估计的结果往往不一致,这可能是体型知觉的不同量化方式所致。最后,体型知觉准确性的相关认知机制主要有收缩偏差、视觉适应和序列依赖效应。