Brazilian researchers have identified a number of characteristics that make people more likely to develop problems associated with body image. The results were published in a scientific journal.
Based on data from two questionnaires answered by 1,750 volunteers, Brazilian researchers have identified a number of characteristics that make a person more likely to develop mental disorders associated with body image and eating. According to the study, the problem mainly affects women, young people, consumers of fitness supplements or pharmacological substances to modify the shape of the body. Also on the list are supporters of restrictive diets, sedentary people, people with diagnoses obesity or overweight and who misjudge their diet.
The survey was conducted by researchers from the state universities of São Paulo (unesp) and Federal de Alfenas (Unifal) and has received funding from FAPESP. The results were published in the journal Environmental Research and Public Health.
According to the authors, knowing the profile of individuals most vulnerable to this type of body disorder can support preventive and health promotion strategies.
“There is worldwide concern about diseases such as diabetes, hypertension and obesity, which have a large impact on the health of the population. However, there are other conditions, such as eating disorders, that are underdiagnosed and overlooked, although they also substantially affect people’s health. It must be taken into account that a bad relationship with food can precede a series of physical and mental problems”, warns Wanderson Roberto da Silva, professor at Unifal and co-author of the article.
Again according to the researcher, it is important to consider that, although disorders such as binge eating, anorexia and bulimia nervosa have a low prevalence in the population, they can trigger serious problems. “They’re strongly associated with negative affect, such as anxiety, stress and depression, which are among the major health challenges of the 21st century,” he says.
At work, the researchers applied two questionnaires to examine the relationship between ‘body shape attention’, ‘social physical anxiety’ and ‘participant personal characteristics’.
In the first phase of the study, which involved 1,750 Brazilian adults, it was found that the more individuals pay attention to their body shape, the more likely they are to expect a negative assessment of their fitness. They also tend to feel less comfortable with the physical presentation of their bodies.
The most common characteristics among those who showed high levels of attention to body shape were: female gender, consumption of fitness supplements or pharmacological substances to modify body shape and frequent restrictive diets.
Among those who had a higher expectation of negative fitness evaluation, the most common traits were: female gender, being considered a young adult, consumption of pharmacological substances to modify body shape, sedentary lifestyle, negative self-evaluation of the quality of food and the presence of overweight or obesity.
The researchers also observed that among the individuals most comfortable with their bodies in general, they were older, male, not overweight or obese, did not use pharmacological substances to modify their body shape, did not follow restrictive diets, and they practiced physical activity. Furthermore, self-assessment of diet quality was more positive in this group.
the real body
In the second phase of the study, the researchers evaluated a subsample of 286 individuals undergoing bioimpedance testing, performed on a type of scale capable of measuring factors such as total fat percentage, lean body mass and visceral fat level.
“With this analysis, we observed that the individual’s body composition influenced the perception in relation to the fitness of the body. People with a greater amount of fat and less muscle mass were the most susceptible to problems,” the researcher reports to Agência FAPESP .
Therefore, according to the study, people who worry excessively about their body, to the point of generating anxiety, can manifest dysfunctional behaviors both in terms of food and body.
“The big theme of the work is to highlight that there are individual characteristics that suggest greater vulnerability to dysfunctional behaviors in relation to negative body image and disordered eating. It is important to pay attention to these behaviors, as they represent the root of future problems With this in mind, there is an opportunity to develop more assertive action for disease prevention and health promotion, both in a collective and individual context,” she says.
The work was developed with a focus on the cognitive (such as attention to body shape) and affective (such as anxiety generated when the body is exposed) aspects of body image. According to the article, in the context of body image, when individuals turn their attention to the physical, they can experience feelings of adequacy, but also of inadequacy, which, depending on the intensity, can trigger mental disorders such as anorexia or bulimia nervosa. .
Silva explains that this attention can be understood as a selective cognitive processing, in which the individual focuses intentionally on something specific, or on the basis of internal and external stimuli. “In this process, the person is consumed by some information while neglecting others and this happens individually, and can vary according to the intensity of each stimulus,” she explains.
According to the researcher, anxiety is linked to eating behavior and the relationship people have with their body image. “This influences actions. Therefore, a person with a high level of anxiety may become more susceptible to having an eating disorder, especially if they have body image issues. They may use inappropriate strategies to change their body image, without any kind of supervision by a trained professional, and this compromises their health instead of improving it,” he says.
Examples of dysfunctional behaviors include adopting restrictive or fad diets without specialized monitoring, engaging in excessive physical exercise without supervision, and consuming dietary supplements or potentially harmful substances (anabolic steroids, for example) without supervision. adequate prescription. “As you can see, there are several strategies that can disrupt an individual’s life in various aspects, affecting their physical, mental and social health,” she points out. / Agência FAPESP
The article Relationship between attention to body shape, social physical anxiety and personal characteristics of Brazilians: a structural equation model can be read at: www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/22/14802.
Source: Terra

Ben Stock is a lifestyle journalist and author at Gossipify. He writes about topics such as health, wellness, travel, food and home decor. He provides practical advice and inspiration to improve well-being, keeps readers up to date with latest lifestyle news and trends, known for his engaging writing style, in-depth analysis and unique perspectives.