Self-perception of body image, nutritional status and practice of physical activity of university students from Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

Abstract

The present study aimed to verify the perception of body self-image; nutritional status and practice of physical activity in undergraduatestudents in the area of health and education from a university of Rio Grande do Sul State. The sample consisted of31 undergraduate students from the courses of Nutrition, Biology, Education and Physical Education, with a mean age of 23years and 83.9% being female. The Body Shape Questionnaire was used to evaluate the perception of body image. In orderto evaluate the level of physical activity, the International Physical Activity Questionnaire – IPAQ short version was used. Thebody mass index was calculated from weight and height. Arithmetic means, standard deviation, minimum and maximumvalues, and median, were calculated using the software Epi Info version 3.3.2. High levels of distortion in the perception ofbody image were observed among the pedagogy students (37.5%). The same was not observed among students of physicaleducation and nutrition, that are courses in which, typically, students are more concerned with this situation. It was alsoobserved that 50% of biology students had moderate body image distortion. In addition, the dissatisfaction with body imagewas more prevalent in women, and this was not related with socioeconomic status. Moreover, it was observed that physicalactivity and nutritional status were positively associated with body image perception. More researches should be conductedin order to elucidate a probable higher prevalence of eating and body image disorders among students.