Body Image Perception among Undergraduate Female Medical Students in Mangalore: A Cross Sectional Study
Journal Title: International Journal of Preventive, Curative & Community Medicine - Year 2018, Vol 4, Issue 1
Abstract
Background: Body image is the dynamic perception of one’s body. Body image perception depends on anthropometric and psychological factors. Body dissatisfaction is influenced by the socio-cultural environment and is associated with eating disorders and low self-esteem. Ojectives: To study the body image perception among undergraduate female students in a medical college. Materials And Methods: It is a cross-sectional study conducted among 239 undergraduate female medical students. It was conducted during December 2015-January 2016 in one of the medical colleges in Mangalore. A 34 item Body Shape Questionnaire(BSQ) along with the details on socio-demography was collected using a validated questionnaire. The 34-item BSQ measures body image concern through a 6-point Likertscale. The scores are classified into 4 categories: satisfied (not worried) about body shape (<81), slightly worried (81 - 110), moderately worried (111 - 140), and extremely worried (>140). The data so obtained was entered and analyzed using SPSS version 16.0. Results: Median age of the students was 20 years.64% of them were in the age group of 20-26 years.50% of them were from Karnataka. According to the BSQ it was seen that up to 32.6% were dissatisfied with themselves. No association was noted between the body image perception and place of origin or age groups of the subjects. But a significant association was noted between body image perception and subjects avoiding communal changing rooms and self consciousness. Conclusion: With adequate health education people can be made aware that being dissatisfied with their body images could lead to adverse health events like anorexia nervosa and bulimia. A number of potential factors that may help to protect against negative body image or prevent negative body image exist.
Authors and Affiliations
Dr. RP Singh
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP285049
- DOI 10.24321/2454.325X.201803
- Views 118
- Downloads 0
Climate Change and its effects on Vector Borne Diseases in India
The world is witnessing Climate change. This change has already started affecting air quality, food production, water supply, coastal settlements and human health. Vector-borne diseases account for over 17% of all infect...
“Organ Donation: Awareness, Attitudes and Beliefs among Medical Students of Mysore, Karnataka”
Background: The opinions of the medical community and perhaps most importantly, the attitudes of the public, clearly affect the availability of organs for transplantation. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted a...
Financial Consequences of Illness: Evidence from Slums of India
Title of the book is appropriate as it incorporates two undetachable aspects of the society namely the illness, sufferings and their economic impact on the daily lives of people, more so critical for people uprooted from...
A Cross Sectional Study of General and Maternal Morbidities among Female Sex Workers of a Metro City
Introduction: Globally the issues of morbidity among female sex workers are major concerns but mostly have been neglected. Objective: To study the general and maternal health morbidities among female sex workers. Materia...
Role of Nursing in Holistic Health
Nursing has come a long way since the days of Florence Nightingale and her pioneering actions that define her as “The Mother of Modern Nursing.” One thing that has not changed, and is unlikely to change anytime in the ne...