Body image satisfaction, nutritional status, anthropometric indicators and quality of life among the elderly

Abstract

Objective: to determine the prevalence of body image satisfaction in elderly subjects, as well as its relationship with nutritional status, anthropometric indicators and quality of life. Method: a cross-sectional, descriptive and analytical study was carried out with elderly individuals from Primary Care units (Family Health Strategy) from all the health districts of Porto Alegre, in the state of Rio Grande do Sul. The variables studied were: sociodemographic (gender; age; marital status and schooling), anthropometric (weight; height; body mass index; arm, calf, waist and hip circumference; waist-hip ratio and triceps skinfold), nutritional (Mini Nutritional Assessment), and clinical (quality of life; body image satisfaction). The Stunkard Silhouettes Scale, the Mini Nutritional Assessment and the Flanagan quality of life scale were applied. For data analysis, logistic regression (five steps) was performed with the Conditional Backward method. Results: a total of 532 elderly users (68.96 (7.14) years) were evaluated, mostly women (64.8%) who were dissatisfied with their body image (71.7%). The predictors of body image satisfaction were: eutrophic/underweight body mass index, eutrophy/insufficient arm circumference, and higher mean quality of life scores. Conclusion: in general, a low prevalence of body image satisfaction was identified among the elderly. Subjects with lower body mass index, smaller arm circumference measures and better quality of life had a greater chance of being satisfied with their body image.

Social appearance anxiety and self-esteem in women: could body mass index have a mediating role?

“…In conventional and social media, patterns about the perfect appearance of the female body are often imposed upon individuals (Martins et al, 2018). Sociocultural pressure to have a slim body paves the way for young people and women to dislike their bodies and to utilize unhealthy weight loss methods (Tiggemann, 2004).…”

Índice geral de aptidão física e os indicadores de saúde do idoso

“…Corroborando com o presente estudo, na pesquisa que avaliou a satisfação com a imagem corporal, estado nutricional, indicadores antropométricos e qualidade de vida em idosos da cidade de Porto Alegre -RS, apresentando uma RCQ dos indivíduos de ambos os sexos satisfeito e não satisfeito com a imagem classificados com risco (73,4%) e (84,2%), e sem riscos (26,6%) e (15,8%) respectivamente (65).…”

Body image, nutritional status and quality of life in long-lived older adults

“…Specific studies with older adults related to the perception of body image have been carried out in Brazil 1,7,10,11 , however, most were not performed exclusively with older adults aged 80 or over. These studies have found a positive relationship between QoL and advancing age and physical activity 1 and a negative relationship with overweight 7 and non-normal nutritional status 10,11 . There has been a growing number of studies aimed at verifying how QoL impacts health promotion among older adults 1,12 .…”