Body image and quality of life for middle-age men practicing long-distance running

Abstract

Physical activity is an integral part of a healthy lifestyle, regardless of an individual human’s stage of life. The aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between long-distance running and body image,as well as quality of life amongmiddle-aged Polish men practicing long distance-running. Furthermore, the study was aimed at comparing their group in terms of the above variables with the group of men not undertaking physical activity. The study was conducted in 2018 among 220 men. The research tool consisted of: an original personal survey, the Body Scale Image and the Shortened Version of the WHOQOL-BREF (The World Health Organization Quality of Life) Survey. It has been shown that practicing physical activity aff ects the perception of one’s body among men in the middle of adulthood, while its impact on the sense of quality of life has not been confi rmed. It has been proven that men who practice long-distance running diff er signifi cantly in the perception of their own body from men not performing any physical activity.