Auto image and body satisfaction in school adolescents

Abstract

Objective: to verify the self-image and corporal satisfaction among school adolescents. Material and methods: Epidemiological study with 2050 primary school students distributed in 21 schools of the state school system. The sample was of the probabilistic type by clusters. For the data collection, a self-administered questionnaire with sociodemographic variables, self-image and body satisfaction was used. The gender comparison was performed using the Chi-square statistical test, assuming a significance level of p <0.05, using the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS), version 18.0. The project was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the State University of Montes Claros (Unimontes), number 2,073,215. Results: Of the adolescents evaluated, 937 (45.8%) are males and 1109 (54.2%) are female, 90.7% of these adolescents are enrolled in the morning shift, and more than 21% say they are trying to lose weight, 57.7% considered their body normal, however 35.5% reported being indifferent or dissatisfied with their own body. Conclusion: Most of the adolescents investigated have dissatisfaction with body image, being greater in females.