Durham University Delegation Visits CUEA to Kick Off the BIRES Project
By Research Department
Building Body Image Resilience in Populations Undergoing Rapid Economic Development
On Friday, September 4, 2026, The Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA) welcomed a delegation from Durham University, UK, marking the official launch of the BIRES project.
The delegation comprised of Prof. Lynda Boothroyd, Professor of Psychology, and Kristen Keen, a PhD researcher, both from Durham University.
BIRES is an initiative focused on building body image resilience in populations undergoing rapid economic development.
After the meeting at CUEA, the team proceeded to the nearby RADIX Hotel to conduct training for research assistants, thereafter; they started the pilot testing within Nairobi and Kiambu Counties.
The project is led by the Principal Investigator, Prof. Lynda Boothroyd, supported by a multidisciplinary research team comprising Dr. Elizabeth Evans, Dr. Tracey Thornborrow, Dr. Stephen Asatsa, Dr. Ana Chamorro Coneo, Dr. William Flores, Dr. Olga Grijalva Martinez, Dr. Macdonald Matika, Dr. Moises Mebarak, and Dr. Fabienne Andres.
About the Project
This project explores body dissatisfaction and eating disorder risks across diverse cultural settings, beginning with Nicaragua and Colombia and expanding across wider Latin America and Africa.
It will involve over 3,000 participants across six countries, with the goal of helping policymakers and educators develop resources and proactive education programmes to build body image resilience. The project involves collaboration with researchers from institutions in Nicaragua, Colombia, Zimbabwe, and Kenya, with project advisers drawn from across the globe.
A Global Collaboration
BIRES brings together four collaborating institutions spanning three continents: Universidad del Norte (Colombia), the Universidad Autonoma Benito Juarez de Oaxaca - UABJO (Mexico), The Catholic University of Eastern Africa - CUEA (Kenya), and the University of Zimbabwe both from Africa.
Meet Prof. Lynda Boothroyd, Principal Investigator
Lynda Boothroyd is a Professor of Psychology at Durham University. Her research focuses on evolutionary and cross-cultural understandings of interpersonal attraction and sexual selection. She has recently focused on body ideals in rural Nicaragua, alongside experimental work - both in the laboratory and in the field - on the impact of visual experience on body size preferences. Lynda engages actively in science communication on body image and on issues around sex and gender, including BBC short films and articles for The Conversation.
Prof. Boothroyd takes a multidisciplinary approach to her research, drawing on perspectives from evolutionary psychology, developmental psychology, social psychology, and biological anthropology, and has incorporated a mixed-methods component into her current work. Prof. Boothroyd welcomes applications for PhDs or postdoctoral fellowships from researchers interested in pursuing interdisciplinary projects addressing how sociocultural, psychological, and bio-evolutionary factors shape our conceptions of attractiveness, body shape, or gender.
She is also interested in supporting projects on body image interventions, particularly from a cross-cultural perspective. Potential funding streams for applicants to consider include the ESRC NINE-DTP stream for PhDs and postdoctoral fellows, the University's doctoral studentships, and the European Research Council's Marie Curie postdoctoral scheme.
Research Questions Driving the Project
The project seeks to understand how access to television affects preferences for female body weight, and how that same access shapes men's attitudes toward women's bodies and their preferences for female body shape. It also examines how nutritional stress and television access interact in shaping body weight preferences, how television access affects body satisfaction in women and girls, and how television influences preferences for facial ethnicity cues.
Relevance of the BIRES Project
The BIRES project aligns with CUEA's mission across five main dimensions: integral human development, generating evidence to inform pastoral care, counseling, and health education, in line with Catholic principles; serving vulnerable populations, investigating how nutritional stress and media exposure interact to shape body image pressures among at-risk groups; contextual relevance, producing knowledge grounded in Eastern African realities rather than relying on imported Western frameworks; pursuit of truth, reflecting CUEA's academic commitment to understanding the human person; and leadership formation, informing curricula and outreach efforts such as media literacy and adolescent health programmes, contributing to the development of transformative leaders.
Methodology