Psychological and Physical Correlates of Body Image Dissatisfaction among High School Egyptian Students

Abstract

Background: Body image is one of the most important psychological factors that affects adolescents’ personality and behavior. Body image can be defined as the person’s perceptions, thoughts, and feelings about his or her body.
 Objectives: to identify the prevalence of body image concerns among secondary school students and its relation to different factors.
 Subjects and methods: A cross-sectional study conducted in which 796 secondary school students participated and body shape concerns was investigated using the body shape questionnaire (BSQ-34).
 Results: The prevalence of moderate/marked concern was (21.6%). Moderate/ marked body shape concern was significantly associated with unemployed fathers and mothers, low level of maternal education, lower socioeconomic status, concern with body weight or problematic eating, increased BMI, increased anxiety and depression.
 Conclusions: The high prevalence of moderate/marked dissatisfaction with body shape and its possible relation to subsequent hazards such as eating disorders, depression, and anxiety should be of concern.

Body image dissatisfaction is associated with perceived body weight among secondary school adolescents in Harar Town, eastern Ethiopia

“…A study conducted in Malaysia and Nepal used the Body Shape Questionnaire to assess body image dissatisfaction, unlike this study, which used the BPS. In addition, there can also be disparity within the population, as body image dissatisfaction is determined by different socioeconomic problems, which may result in differences in prevalence (17). This study showed a slightly higher prevalence of body image dissatisfaction compared to a previous study conducted among adolescents aged between 11 and 17 years who were students in public schools in Brazil (12).…”

“…Previous studies show different distributions of BID among adolescents at different site. In a study conducted among adolescents in Brazil, 19.5% had body image dissatisfaction (12), 60.1% in Malaysia (13), 25% among girls, and 10% among boys in Indonesia (14), 75.2% in Kathmandu in Nepal (15), 21.2% in Jordan (16) and 21.6% in Egypt (17).…”

“…External factors such as social media exposure and negative appraisal can cause BID among adolescents (16,(18)(19)(20). Furthermore, it is associated with family conditions such as having unemployed fathers and mothers, a low level of maternal education, and a lower socioeconomic status (17). It is also associated with individual factors, such as body weight concerns and a desire to be thinner or larger (6).…”

“…It is also associated with individual factors, such as body weight concerns and a desire to be thinner or larger (6). Even though adolescents with normal body weight may also be dissatisfied with their bodies, it is higher among overweight/obese adolescent and those who perceive themselves as fat (9,10,12,13,15,17,20). Furthermore, it is higher among those who engage in weight-control behaviors, those who exercise, follow a diet to lose weight, and those who have negative attitudes toward eating (6,12,17,20).…”

“…Body image dissatisfaction also associated with psychological problems. It is common among adolescents with depression and anxiety, and higher self-esteem is significantly associated with lower body dissatisfaction (4,17,20,21).…”