---
title: Does how you feel about your body change across the menstrual cycle?
description: Yes, teenage girls in this study felt worse about their bodies in the days before their period compared with other times in the cycle, even after accounting f
url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/the-association-between-menstrual-cycle-characteristics-and-perceived-body-image-2016/
---

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- Does how you feel about your body change across the menstrual cycle?

Survey study, 2016

# Does how you feel about your body change across the menstrual cycle?

Yes, teenage girls in this study felt worse about their bodies in the days before their period compared with other times in the cycle, even after accounting for their weight.

 Early or limited evidence

Polish female adolescents aged 12 to 18 with normal menstrual cycles and no eating disorders

## What they did

Researchers surveyed Polish girls aged 12 to 18 who had regular periods and no eating disorders. The girls filled in a questionnaire and a body image scale, and had their body measurements taken. The researchers looked at whether body image changed across the different phases of the menstrual cycle, taking into account weight, age at first period, and other factors.

## What they found

Body image and the gap between how girls saw their actual body and their ideal body were linked to the menstrual cycle phase and to body weight status. Body dissatisfaction was most likely during the premenstrual phase of the cycle, and was also more likely in girls classed as having obesity class I.

## What it means for you

For teenage girls, the time just before a period may be a time of greater body dissatisfaction, separate from the effect of body weight. This was a one-time survey in Polish girls only, so it cannot show that the cycle causes these feelings, only that they are linked.

12-18

age range of girls studied

## About the study

Original title THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN MENSTRUAL CYCLE CHARACTERISTICS AND PERCEIVED BODY IMAGE: A CROSS-SECTIONAL SURVEY OF POLISH FEMALE ADOLESCENTS Authors Kaczmarek M, Trambacz-Oleszak S Journal Journal of biosocial science Year 2016 Study design Survey study What was tested None, this was an observational survey, not a tested treatment Read the paper [doi.org/10.1017/s0021932015000292](https://doi.org/10.1017/s0021932015000292)

## Topics

[Eating disorders](https://niyora.com/research/topics/comorbidity-eating-disorders/)[Adolescents and young people](https://niyora.com/research/topics/life-area-adolescents/)[Stigma, attitudes and culture](https://niyora.com/research/topics/life-area-stigma-culture/)

Research tells you what helps on average. Niyora helps on the day it hits.

Calm down, see it another way, and decide what to say, with a PMS and PMDD app built by a doctor.

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