Association between body satisfaction and sociodemographic, behavioral and health of university students
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.12957/demetra.2020.47361Keywords:
Body image. Nutritional status. Health.Abstract
Introduction: Body image is a multidimensional and dynamic concept by which perceptions are formed based on experiences, concepts and behaviors. Few studies on body satisfaction are performed with university students, a public subject to eating disorders, considering the particularities of this period of life. This study aimed to evaluate body satisfaction and verify its association with sociodemographic, behavioral and health variables of university students. Methods: Cross-sectional study carried out with 115 residents of the University Student Houses, who answered a self-administered questionnaire. Socio-demographic (age, gender, nationality, region of origin, level and course area and maternal education), behavior (smoking, risk of abusive consumption of alcohol and level of physical activity) and health variables (diabetes mellitus, hypertension, dyslipidemia, depression and/or panic syndrome and nutritional status) were analyzed. Descriptive data analysis was performed considering a significance level of 95% (p value < 0.05). Results: Students presented a 53.9% prevalence of satisfaction with their own weight. Less than 10% of students reported having diabetes mellitus, arterial hypertension and dyslipidemia. Thirteen percent reported suffering from depression and/or panic syndrome. Slightly more than a quarter of the students were smokers, and this proportion also occurred among those who presented a risk of harmful consumption of alcoholic beverages. The practice of physical activity was significant among students, since 45.5% were active and 34.8% were very active. Regarding weight, 61.6% were eutrophic and 53.9% were satisfied with their weight . Body dissatisfaction was significantly associated with foreign nationality and nutritional status. Conclusion: Therefore, higher education institutions need to include the topic of body satisfaction in the care of university students through multidisciplinary teamwork aiming to demystify stereotyped patterns.
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