Gutierréz-Maldonado headed a study about self-image as it relates to avatars. The demographic to investigate was women who have eating disorders, because they have higher amounts of distortion when it comes to self-image. The women were asked to make an avatar of themselves, wherein a majority ended up having a significant weight distortion. Afterwards, the women were asked to participate in four virtual reality environments (only two of which were deemed consequential). One environment required the avatars to consume a low-calorie food, and the other to consume a high-calorie food. It was found that, for people who suffer from an eating disorder: their avatar’s eating habits will influence the user’s perception of their own body, causing a distortion in their real-life self-image. The data reveals that high-calorie foods caused the participants to believe that they gained weight in real life, as opposed to the low-calorie foods that caused no further distortions.