Body weight concerns: Cross-national study and identification of factors related to eating disorders

Abstract

BackgroundBody weight concerns are common among individuals with eating disorders, and this construct can be assessed using psychometric instruments. The Weight Concerns Scale (WCS) is commonly used to assess body weight concerns.AimsTo evaluate the psychometric properties of the WCS with Brazilian, Portuguese, and Mozambican female college students; to estimate body weight concerns; and to identify factors related to eating disorders.MethodsConfirmatory factor analysis was performed. Factorial, convergent, concurrent, and divergent validity, as well as reliability, were assessed. Cross-national invariance was tested by means of multigroup analysis. Structural models were tested using the WCS as the dependent variable, while demographic and academic variables and body mass index were used as independent variables. Logistic models were tested to estimate the likelihood of eating disorders being developed in specific groups.ResultsParticipants were 2,068 female students. The psychometric properties of the WCS were adequate for the Portuguese sample; however, for the Brazilian and Mozambican samples, it was necessary to correlate the errors of two items to improve model fit. The WCS did not show cross-national invariance. The variables “thoughts about dropping out of college,” “medication use because of studies,” “medication and supplements use for body change,” “body mass index,” “socioeconomic status,” “age,” and “performance in course” were significant predictors of body weight concerns. Overall, 24.4% (95% confidence interval = 22.9–26.7) of the students were likely to develop eating disorders. Students under 21 years old, who use medication and supplements for body change, and who were classified as overweight/obese have increased likelihood of developing eating disorders.ConclusionThe WCS showed good psychometric properties with Brazilian, Portuguese, and Mozambican students; however, it did not show cross-national invariance. We identified important aspects for investigating body weight concerns and factors related to eating disorders.

Strategies for eating and body change among Brazilian women and men

“…36,37 This finding highlights the relevant role that eating can play in an individuals' body appearance. The significant paths between economic class and body image have been reported in previous studies, 17 illustrating how individuals with greater economic power are more dissatisfied with their body and may engage more often in strategies to seek body change. 38 No prior study has reported results similar to ours in relation to the significant paths found between work and strategies for body change.…”

“…Another point that merits highlighting is related to evaluation of the psychometric properties of BIBCI, which is rarely reported in the literature, and the related lack of consensus among researchers on the analytical strategy for estimating BIBCI subscale scores (i.e., some studies use means, and others use sums). The authors of the BIBCI did not In previous studies, 11,[14][15][16][17] Analyses were carried out using MPLUS (v.7.2). Average variance extracted (AVE) was calculated to evaluate convergent validity.…”

Distortion and dissatisfaction with body size per the demographic and academic characteristics and the nutritional status of university students

“…Some authors report, for example, that women wish mainly to lose weight, while men seek weight gain in the form of muscle mass (Adami et al, 2008;Demarest & Allen, 2000;Muth & Cash, 1997;Nikniaz et al, 2016;Radwan et al, 2019). These studies also point out that women have a higher negative body image when compared to men and this may contribute to the development of harmful behaviors, such as disordered eating (Da Silva et al, 2020, Silva et al, 2017.…”

Consumo de formulações emagrecedoras e risco de transtornos alimentares em universitários de cursos de saúde

“…E a pouca literatura encontrada é controversa, pois alguns autores afirmam que os comportamentos sugestivos de TA estão mais associados a indivíduos das classes média e alta, outros os associam com a classe baixa e, ainda, outros dizem que essa associação não é totalmente correta, havendo pouco ou nenhum efeito da classe social. Os autores concluem que essa relação ainda precisa ser mais estudada [5][6][7] .…”