There is a range of reasons why thin women think they're too heavy, but the distorted body image may often have its roots in childhood, the results of a new study suggest.

Researchers found that among more than 2,400 thin women they surveyed, nearly 10 percent thought they were too heavy. Experiences in childhood, including having an ill parent, or starting to drink or have sex at a particularly young age, were among the risk factors for having a distorted body image.

The findings are published in the International Journal of Eating Disorders.

According to the study authors, led by Dr. Susanne Kruger Kjaer of the Danish Cancer Society, Copenhagen, society's "ideal" female body is moving toward an underweight physique. Research suggests that many normal-weight women wish to weigh less.

To investigate body image among thin women, the researchers gave questionnaires to 2,443 women ages 27 to 38 whose body mass index (BMI) was at the low end of normal. The women were asked about factors ranging from childhood experiences to current exercise habits.

Overall, almost 10 percent of the women thought they were too heavy. Those who reported certain "severe life events" in childhood or adolescence, such as having a parent become ill or having their educational hopes dashed, were more likely than others to have a distorted body image. The same was true of women who started having sex or drinking alcohol when they were younger than 15 years old.

In contrast, traumatic events in adulthood, such as serious illness or significant marital problems, were not related to poor body image, the researchers report.

"Our results indicate that the risk of being dissatisfied with (one's) own body weight may be established early in life," Kjaer and her colleagues write.

Taking on a risky lifestyle at a young age, including having sex or drinking, can indicate a child is vulnerable or has low-esteem, according to the researchers. They note that while this study focused on body dissatisfaction, and not eating disorders, childhood trauma, high vulnerability and low self-esteem have all been linked with the risk of developing an eating disorder.

In other findings, women who felt overwhelmed by work or thought they were out of shape were more likely to view themselves as heavy. According to Kjaer's team, women with a heavy workload may have little time for exercise, which could engender body dissatisfaction.

On the other hand, the researchers found, the older women were and the more children they had, the less likely they were to feel they weighed too much. Past research, they note, has similarly suggested that normal-weight women become more accepting of their bodies as they grow older or become mothers.

International Journal of Eating Disorders, April 2004.

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