Abstract
BackgroundThe goal of this study was to identify the effect of the change in body mass index (BMI) from childhood to adulthood on body image satisfaction at 23 years of age in members of the 1982 Pelotas Birth Cohort in Pelotas, RS, Brazil.MethodsThe study used data from the 1986 and 2004–5 follow-up studies. Body shape satisfaction was evaluated using the Stunkard scale. Body shape dissatisfaction was defined as the difference between the figures chosen for the current and ideal body size. BMI z-score changes were calculated as the difference between z-score values at 4 and 23 years of age, using the population internal z-score as standard. The analysis was stratified by sex, and multinomial logistic regression was used in crude and adjusted analyses.ResultsA total of 1963 men and 1739 women were analyzed. The mean age of the participants in 2004–5 was 22.7 years. Of the participants exhibiting increased BMI z-scores, 17% perceived themselves as thinner than ideal, whereas 48% perceived themselves as fatter than ideal. The prevalence of dissatisfaction was higher in women because they perceived themselves as fatter than ideal on the three categories of z-score change (≥ + 0.5 sd; −0.49 to + 0.49 sd and ≤ −0.5 sd); 81% of women exhibiting an increased BMI z-score reported dissatisfaction. The analysis adjusted for confounding factors revealed that women with increased BMI z-scores were less prone to feel thinner than ideal. Additionally, the increased risk of dissatisfaction due to perceiving oneself as fatter than ideal was similar between men and women (RRR = 3.52 95% CI: 2.17 to 4.56 and RRR = 4.08 95% CI: 3.00 to 5.56, respectively) using −0.49 to +0.49 sd as the reference category.ConclusionsIndividuals exhibiting increased BMI z-scores between 4 and 23 years of age reported higher risks of body dissatisfaction at 23 years of age. This finding is important because body dissatisfaction can cause psychological, social, self-esteem problems, and well-being.
Highlights
The goal of this study was to identify the effect of the change in body mass index (BMI) from childhood to adulthood on body image satisfaction at 23 years of age in members of the 1982 Pelotas Birth Cohort in Pelotas, RS, Brazil
Body image dissatisfaction may result in problems of self-esteem, well-being, social group acceptance, job opportunities, productivity, socioeconomic status, and psychosocial performance [19,20]
The present study revealed that individuals with positive BMI z-score changes, i.e., those with increased BMI during the period studied, exhibited higher risks of body dissatisfaction due to perceiving themselves as fatter than ideal
Summary
The goal of this study was to identify the effect of the change in body mass index (BMI) from childhood to adulthood on body image satisfaction at 23 years of age in members of the 1982 Pelotas Birth Cohort in Pelotas, RS, Brazil. The Brazilian nationwide survey entitled The Surveillance of Risk and Protective Factors for Chronic Diseases through Telephone Survey study (VIGITEL) [3] from the Health Ministry reveal that more than half of the Brazilian population is overweight, interviewed 45,000 adults, and 51% of the interviewees mentioned excess weight. Many of the negative effects of excess weight in adulthood, such as emotional and psychological problems, negative self-image, decreased self-confidence, Mintem et al BMC Public Health (2015) 15:222 depression, social isolation, discrimination, difficulties in interpersonal relationships and eating disorders result from obesity during childhood and the teenage years [6,11,12,13]. A high prevalence of body image dissatisfaction, among women, has been reported in several countries [14,15,16,17,18]. In adolescents with high levels of body dissatisfaction, the association between obesity and psychosocial impairment was found [21]
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