Imagem corporal, aspectos nutricionais e atividade física em estudantes de uma escola pública

Body image, nutritional aspects and physical activity of students from a public school

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the body image satisfaction and its relationship with nutritional status,
physical activity level, dietary habits and nutritional knowledge of 175 students from 5th to 8th grade at a public school in
Santa Maria, RS, Brazil. Methods: Questionnaires were applied concerning body image satisfaction, nutrition knowledge,
dietary habits and physical activity of students. Measures of body weight and height were used to calculate the nutritional
status. The fi rst test was conducted in April, and the second test in December, both in 2011. Pearson chi-square test and
Spearman correlation test were applied. The signifi cance level was 5%. Results: The students were 50.9% male and 49.1%
female. In males, there was no signifi cant correlation between body image satisfaction and any variables in the fi rst test,
but in the second test, it was correlated with nutritional status (r=0.592, p<0.01). in the fi rst test for females, body image
was correlated with nutritional status (r=0.301, p<0.01) and nutritional knowledge (r=0.290, p<0.01); in the second test
it maintained its correlation with nutritional status (r=376, p<0.01) and nutritional knowledge (r=0.257, p=0.024) and also
with physical activity level (r=0.251, p=0.036). Conclusion: Body image satisfaction level decreased as the nutritional
status increased. Especially when girls were dissatisfi ed, they had a higher nutritional knowledge level and when they were
satisfi ed, they routinely engaged in more physical activity.