Perception of body image and tendencies of eating behaviour among adolescents

Abstract

Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate attitude to body image and compare sex and body mass index differences in body perception among schoolchildren of 7-10 grades in Lithuania.Method: Data was obtained from 3248 adolescents (mean age = 14.83 (SD = 1.28), 49.5% male) who fully completed self-report questionnaires. Participants were grouped and subsequently analyzed according to their body mass index and sex. Results:Tendencies among males and females were analyzed. Overall 39.6% of the female and 11.8% of male adolescents wanted a thinner body. More females than males replied that they have tried dieting, wished to become thinner, were afraid of becoming fat or even of gaining a small amount of weight and felt not able to control their eating. However, more males answered exercising to control weight, consuming large amounts of food at once and inducing vomiting after meal. Discussion:Findings suggest the importance of addressing aspects of negative body image, associated with different BMI categories, gender differences and disordered eating behavior in clinical settings and public health policies. Perception of body image and tendencies of eating behavior among adolescentsNowadays conducted studies often show that adolescents' body image is distorted [1,2]. Teenagers, especially females, are increasingly getting more and more anxious about their constitution with their concerns culminating in weight-control behavior modifications. Throughout history and cultures changing beauty concept with people who are willing or forcifully coerced into applying measures needed to achieve 'ideal' figure, which range from self-denied body of ascetic to much more curvy body desired in the times of hardship [3] finally body image is seemingly stopped by embodiment of Barbie and Ken. It is the message that 'thin is good' and 'fat is bad' which deviates people from normalised view of eating behaviour and body image.Body image notion is defined as body shape, weight and other appearance-related attributes or as perception of information about inner self. Body image depicts accuracy of body perception and degree of satisfaction or dissatisfaction with it [4]. With body image able to affect social relationships and cognitive processes [5,6] and therefore to influence subsequent life it is important to find the prevalence and nature of weight-control measures and body image's perception, especially among young people.Adolescence is a critical period of life with dramatic body changes [7]. Now when more and more people think that person is beautiful, attractive and healthy only if he/she is slender and being fat is considered abominable causing fear of becoming overweight, adolescents begin to think that normal puberty is uniform with loss of weight control -in their view teenagers with normal feminine/ masculine body shape are obese, ugly, lazy loser's incapable of self-control. Body dissatisfaction leads to negative health consequences, increased risk of obesity and usage of inappropriate methods of weigh...

Relationship Between Body Image and Eating Pattern in Woman Adolescents

“…Diet is food that is determined and controlled for a specific purpose. In a layman's sense, adolescents often interpret it as a reduction in food portions to lose weight to achieve an ideal body shape [11], [12] Research by Thompson (2007) that factors that influence body image in individuals are influenced by several factors, namely the influence of body weight and perceptions of fat or thin, culture, life cycle, pregnancy, socialization, self-concept, gender roles and the influence of body image distortion on individual self. This is reinforced by the results of research which shows that most respondents who have a negative body image perception (experiencing dissatisfaction with their body shape) do not only occur in respondents who are overweight (fat and obese) but also respondents with normal nutritional status.…”

Validation of the Lithuanian Version of the Sociocultural Attitudes towards Appearance Questionnaire-4 (SATAQ-4) in a Student Sample

“…Body dissatisfaction and disordered eating appear significant health problems of young people in Lithuania [19][20][21]. Researches in Lithuania show that body image concerns are prevalent in adolescents and students [19,21,22].…”

“…Body dissatisfaction and disordered eating appear significant health problems of young people in Lithuania [19][20][21]. Researches in Lithuania show that body image concerns are prevalent in adolescents and students [19,21,22]. A study in the representative sample demonstrated that every second girl of late adolescent age overestimates her body weight, while more than 60% of boys report body weight underestimation [19].…”