BODY IMAGE PERCEPTION AND ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH SCHOLASTIC ACHIEVEMENT CHILEAN ADOLESCENTS

Background and objectives: During the last decades, an increase in sedentary lifestyle, poor dietary practices, overweight and obesity in adolescents, resulting in changes both in body image and perception which can affect scholastic achievement (SA). The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between scholastic achievement in the University Selection Test (PSU) of Language (PSUL) and Mathematics (PSUM) with the Body Image Perception (BIP) in Chilean adolescents. Methods: A representative and proportional sample of 33 educational establishments was randomly selected, in the Metropolitan Region, Chile. During 2013, 418 school-age children of the 4st grade of high school, of both sexes, 43.1% were males (n = 180) and 57% females (n = 238) participated. The subjects'consent was obtained according to Declaration of Helsinki to undergo anthropometric measurements of weight and height to calculate BMI. BIP was assessed by Stunkard (1990) method which was validated for adolescents (Cortes et al., 2009), showing 9 male and female body silhouettes, ranging from very thin to more robust each silhouette has assigned its corresponding BMI from 17 kg/ m2 to 33kg/m2: Underweight (silhouette 1), Normal (silhouettes 2-5), overweight (silhouettes 6-7) and obesity grade 1 and grade 2 (silhouettes 8-9). The calculated difference between BMI actual and perceived, obtaining three categories: Overestimation (they look fatter than they are), Adjusted Perception and Underestimation (they look thinner than they are). The socioeconomic strata (SES), using the Graffar modified method. SA was measured using the 2013 PSU both PSUL and PSUM, provided by the Department of Education of the Ministry of Education. Statistical analysis of the data was performed using the STATA 13 software. Results: 25.8% of men tended to overestimate their perceived BIP, and 39.6% of women underestimated (p