چکیده (انگلیسی):

Some studies suggest that people with intellectual disabilities (ID) might show dis-tortions regarding body image self-perception. The objectives of this study were to investigate whether people with ID could correctly identify their body image and to determine if partic-ipating in a weight loss therapy program (WLTP) influenced in any way that perception. For that purpose, an experiment was proposed and all along a weight loss therapy program, a com-parison between a body image subjective measure, as the Stunkard scale, and an objective one, as body mass index, was performed. The results obtained showed that individuals with ID (n = 24) perceived in a wrong way their body image before any intervention program (58%). After applying the WLTP for ten weeks, an accentuation in this perception distortion (83%), mostly related with underestimation, was observed with respect to actual body mass index values. The strongest conclusion that can be drawn from this study is that people with ID do not correctly identify their body image. Furthermore, participating in WLTP influences their phys-ical self-concept perception in the way that controlling two variables, as exercise and caloric restriction, causes greater disruption in that perception than controlling only one of them.