Body Image Satisfaction, Eating Attitudes and Perceptions of Female Body Silhouettes in Rural South African Adolescents

Abstract

This study aims to examine the associations between BMI, disordered eating attitude, body dissatisfaction in female adolescents, and descriptive attributes assigned to silhouettes of varying sizes in male and female adolescents, aged 11 to 15, in rural South Africa. Height and weight were measured to determine BMI. Age and sex-specific cut-offs for underweight and overweight/obesity were determined using the International Obesity Task Force cut-offs. Body image satisfaction using Feel-Ideal Discrepancy (FID) scores, Eating Attitudes Test-26 (EAT-26), and perceptual female silhouettes were collected through self-administered questionnaires in 385 adolescents from the Agincourt Health and Socio-Demographic Surveillance System (HSDSS). Participants self-reported their Tanner pubertal stage and were classified as early pubertal (< = Tanner stage 2), and mid to post pubertal (Tanner stage > 2). Mid to post pubertal boys and girls were significantly heavier, taller, and had higher BMI values than their early pubertal counterparts (all p<0.001). The prevalence of overweight and obesity was higher in the girls than the boys in both pubertal stages. The majority (83.5%) of the girls demonstrated body dissatisfaction (a desire to be thinner or fatter). The girls who wanted to be fatter had a significantly higher BMI than the girls who wanted to be thinner (p<0.001). There were no differences in EAT-26 scores between pubertal groups, within the same sex, and between boys and girls within the two pubertal groups. The majority of the boys and the girls in both pubertal groups perceived the underweight silhouettes to be “unhappy” and “weak” and the majority of girls in both pubertal groups perceived the normal silhouettes to be the “best”. These findings suggest a need for policy intervention that will address a healthy body size among South African adolescents.

Assessment of Obesity and Body Image Satisfaction amongst Students of AMC MET Medical College, Ahmedabad, Gujarat

“…In the present study the young adults were included as participants thinking that they are more concerned about their body image. In a study by Titilola et al, the study participants were adolescents and in the age range of 11-15 years [20]. The M:F in the present study was 1:1.3.…”

Imagen Corporal y Obesidad mediante las Siluetas de Stunkard en Niños y Adolescentes Indios de 8 a 15 Años

“…Algunos estudios han encontrado relaciones entre obesidad y percepción de la imagen corporal (Magallares, Carbonero-Carreño, Ruiz-Prieto y Jauregui-Lobera, 2016; Serpa dos Santos, Castillo, Gama de Araujo, & Giménez, 2017). Además, autores como Pedro et al (2016) han relacionado la imagen corporal con el índice de masa corporal (IMC), por lo que las siluetas de imagen corporal podrían ser una forma válida de medir la obesidad en niños, tal y como indicaron Coelho, Padez, Moreira, Rosado y Mourão-Carvalhal (2013) en un estudio en el Cuadernos de Psicología del Deporte, 19, 1 (enero) Sánchez-Castillo, López-Sánchez, Ahmed, Díaz-Suárez.…”

Análisis de imagen corporal y obesidad mediante las siluetas de Stunkard en niños y adolescentes españoles de 3 a 18 años

“…Moreover, Pedro et al (2016) reported the connection between body image and the body mass index (BMI). In the same vein, Trejo Ortiz, Castro Veloz, Facio Solís, Mollinedo Montano, & Valdez Esparza (2010) determined that higher values of BMI, especially in women, were connected to a higher bodily dissatisfaction.…”