Nutritional status and body image perception in a group of Moroccan adolescents

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Adolescent obesity has become a pressing public health issue in Morocco. Along with the increased prevalence of obesity, body weight misperceptions have also increased among adolescents, which may reduce the effectiveness of intervention programs. The main study objective was to establish the relationship between body image perception, anthropometric status and their associated factors among a sample of Moroccan adolescents. METHODS: A cross-sectional school-based survey was conducted during 2018, involving 250 adolescents from Morocco. Data on sociodemographic information, anthropometric characteristics, and weight perception were collected and reported as the means and proportions. Statistical analysis was carried out using Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 19.0 software. RESULTS: The prevalence of overweight and obesity in our study reached 12.8% and 4.8%, respectively. Misperception of body weight compared to body mass index (BMI) was found in 50.4% of young adolescents (χ2 = 54.05; p < 0.001), and dissatisfaction computed by the Feel minus Ideal Discrepancy (FID) index reached 46% with no difference between the sexes (χ2 = 2.55; p > 0.05). The Feel weight status minus Actual weight status Inconsistency (FAI) index was used to determine whether the subjects’ perception of their weight was realistic. The results showed that both sexes tended to underestimate their weight. Only 68.2% of overweight/obese participants reported trying to lose weight (χ2 = 39.74; p < 0.001), while this number increased to 94.7% when the intention to lose weight was related to perceived body image (χ2 = 86.09; p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study reveal that a mismatch exists between the perception of body weight and actual BMI in adolescents, with a tendency toward underestimation, affirming the early effect of social norms and the vulnerability to sociocultural influences of individuals in this age category. Future interventions and educational programs are thus required to prevent overweight and obesity and to address the mismatch between adolescents’ weight status and their perceived weight.