Association between perception of body image and stages of behavioral changes among physical education university students

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the association between the percep­tion of body image and the stages of behavioral changes related to physical activity among Physical Education Students. Two hundred thirty six students were included. We measured the perception of body image (silhouettes scale), the stages of changes in behavior related to physical activity using a questionnaire developed by Marcus et al., and socio-demographic variables (gender, age, parental education, marital status, course, employment situation, housing, period of study and income). We used descriptive analysis, chi-square test, Fischer’s exact test, crude and adjusted multinomial regression to estimate the odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI). The prevalence of physically inactive behavior was 18.2% for males and 23.9% for females. Dissatisfaction with body image was associated with the stages of behavioral changes in females, with women with physically inactive behavior having greater odds of experiencing dissatisfaction with their body image, both for underweight (OR: 9.69; 95% CI: 1.05-89.30) and overweight (OR: 5.49; 95% CI: 1.07-28.11) when compared with women who were satisfied with their body image. We suggest the development of in­terventions aimed at the adoption of regular physical activity in order to promote greater satisfaction with body image.