Personal (Self) Perceptions of Submental Fat Among Adults in the United States

BACKGROUND Satisfaction with discrete facial areas influences self-perceptions of attractiveness, self-esteem, and quality of life. Currently, there is a lack of understanding of how the submental area impacts feelings and behaviors. OBJECTIVE To characterize the effects of submental fat (SMF) on feelings/emotions and actions/behavior among adults in the United States. METHODS Online health-based surveys recruited approximately 400 adults (18–65 years) in each of 5 categories based on the respondent's assessment of their SMF. Respondents either agreed or disagreed with 17 statements regarding their feelings/emotions and actions/behaviors related to the area underneath their chin. RESULTS Overall, 1996 respondents were included (equal distribution of males/females; mean age, 41.9 years). Even a slight amount of chin fat was associated with negative feelings and behaviors. As SMF increased, so did the number of respondents reporting negative self-perceptions such as being embarrassed by the area under their chin. In general, a greater percentage of female compared with male respondents reported negative feelings and behavioral changes due to their submental area. CONCLUSION Excess SMF can have a substantial negative effect on a person's feelings of attractiveness and behaviors. Reduction of SMF may not only improve one's appearance, but also may enhance one's self-esteem. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives License 4.0 (CCBY-NC-ND), where it is permissible to download and share the work provided it is properly cited. The work cannot be changed in any way or used commercially without permission from the journal. Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Leslie Baumann, MD, 4500 Biscayne Boulevard, Suite 101, Miami, FL 33137, or e-mail: lsb@derm.net Supplemental digital content is available for this article. Direct URL citations appear in the printed text and are provided in the HTML and PDF versions of this article on the journal's Web site (https://ift.tt/2bw6lgr). This study was sponsored by Allergan plc, Dublin, Ireland. Writing and editorial assistance was provided to the authors by Evidence Scientific Solutions, Inc., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and funded by Allergan plc, Dublin, Ireland. All authors met the ICMJE authorship criteria. Neither honoraria nor payments were made for authorship. L. Baumann has previously received grants from Allergan and currently receives payment for lectures including service on speakers' bureaus from Allergan. S.M. Shridharani is an advisory board member and consultant for Allergan, Galderma, Merz, and Miramar Labs. S. Humphrey currently receives payment for lectures including service on speakers' bureaus from Allergan and serves as a consultant and/or investigator for Allergan, Galderma, Merz, Revance, Evolus, and BonTi. C.J. Gallagher is an employee of Allergan plc. © 2018 by the American Society for Dermatologic Surgery, Inc. Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.

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