Factors associated with concern about body image in students at a brazilian public university
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5902/2236583486380Keywords:
Body dissatisfaction, Students, Higher education, EpidemiologyAbstract
Objective: To verify the factors associated with concerns about body shape among university students, stratified according to sex. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study. The population was made up of 3,177 undergraduate students from a university in southern Brazil with active enrollment in 2019 and aged 18 years or over. The research instrument was made available online to participants. Data collection took place between April and June 2019, totaling 60 calendar days. For data analysis, crude and adjusted logistic regression was applied. The level of statistical significance adopted was p<0.05. Results: The factors that were associated with moderate or high concern about body shape among female students were: younger age (OR 0.95; 95% CI 0.93-0.97), higher BMI (OR 1 .26; 95% CI 1.23-1.29), having a partner (OR 1.30; 95% CI 1.07-1.58), homosexuality (OR 1.357; 95% CI 1.069-1.722) , full study period (OR 1.28; 95% CI 1.03-1.59), and a lot of dissatisfaction/dissatisfaction with the course (OR 2.00; 95% CI 1.28-3.14). For men, younger age (OR 0.93; 95% CI 0.90-0.97), higher BMI (OR 1.22; 95% CI 1.17-1.26), homosexuality (OR 2.71; 95% CI 1.81-4.06) or bisexuality (OR 2.57; 95% CI 1.48-4.45), and graduates from non-health courses (OR 1.49; 95% CI 1.06-2.08). Conclusion: The groups most vulnerable to concerns about body shape were younger students, higher BMI and homosexuals; women with a partner, full-time students and with some degree of dissatisfaction with the course; and bisexual men and those from non-health courses.
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