Is health behavior among university students determined by actual body shape or by body image? A European study.

Abstract

Appropriate body image self-perceptions provide a good help to increase the feeling of personal well-being, thus having an important impact on health. Universities, having an important role in shaping of the future workers, represent an important setting to approach health issues. This study determined to what extent different types of students in higher education (four categories of students were created: "self-secure", "perfect", "destructive" and "apologetic") are likely to adopt different health risk behaviors. A cross-sectional study in a sample of students from five European Universities in the 2016/2017 academic year was conducted. Based on the combination of body image perception and body mass index, four types of students were identified: "self-secure" (overweight students with a good self-esteem); "perfect" (underweight students with a good self-esteem); "destructive" (overweight students with a poor self-esteem); "apologetic" (underweight students with a poor self-esteem). The study reveals that the defined types of students differed in terms of risk behavior. When the control was included, the "self-secure" student type had a reduced likelihood of being on a diet (22.3%) and physically active (17.8%) than other students (p < 0.001). The results of this paper raise concerns about the future because the body dissatisfaction of the college student could be a big impact in long term whether at collective, personally or even professionally.