How does body image affect a person's self-esteem during adulthood?
             During adulthood, hair begins to turn gray and thins, the skin becomes drier and more wrinkled, and as fat is redistributed, the shape of the body begins to change. These changes, along with those that take place in vision and hearing, trigger a process of self-examination that culminates in transforming one's self-perception. The growing preocupation for the way the body looks and functions affects an adult's self-esteem and consequently, their behaviour. In this paper, we will try to prove that the fisical changes during this stage of life many times derive in an increase of fitness-care (?) activities (attending the gym, etc).
             Although body image is a complex construct which includes all of how we see, think and feel about our whole bodies, in contemporary society the major focus has become weight. This is not surprising when the current beauty ideals for women emphasise thinness, and thinness equals attractiveness. However, most of the research on body image has been conducted with high school or university students and consequently samples have been restricted to a narrow age range in the teens and early 20s. This paper presents a brief overview of the key findings from pre-existing research and our own, which includes adults.
             Our examination of adulthood begins with a comprehensive look at the physiological changes that take place as men and women move beyond age 40.
             The deterioration of the sensory systems. Somewhere between 40 and 60 years, every adult realizes that their sensory organs no longer work with the same accuracy as they did before. In spite of the deterioration of every sensory system, there are two which are more noticable during this phase of life: hearing and sight.
             Within the loss of the auditive capacity there are certain biological factors that have to be taken into account, those are sex, genes and age. Men usu...