Association between perception of body image and stages of behavioral changes among physical education university students

The objective of this study was to evaluate the association between the perception of body image and the stages of behavioral changes related to physical activity among Physical Education Students. Two hundred thirty six students were included. We measured the perception of body image (silhouettes scale), the stages of changes in behavior related to physical activity using a questionnaire developed by Marcus et al., and socio-demographic variables (gender, age, parental education, marital status, course, employment situation, housing, period of study and income). We used descriptive analysis, chi-square test, Fischer's exact test, crude and adjusted multinomial regression to estimate the odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI). The prevalence of physically inactive behavior was 18.2% for males and 23.9% for females. Dissatisfaction with body image was associated with the stages of behavioral changes in females, with women with physically inactive behavior having greater odds of experiencing dissatisfaction with their body image, both for underweight (OR: 9.69; 95% CI: 1.05-89.30) and overweight (OR: 5.49; 95% CI: 1.07-28.11) when compared with women who were satisfied with their body image. We suggest the development of interventions aimed at the adoption of regular physical activity in order to promote greater satisfaction with body image.Original Abstract: Este estudo objetivou verificar a associacao entre a percepcao da imagem corporal e os estagios de mudanca de comportamento para atividade fisica em academicos de Educacao Fisica. Participaram do estudo 236 universitdrios. Mensuraram-se a percepcao da imagem corporal (escala de silhuetas), os estagios de mudanca de comportamento para atividade fisica por meio de um questionario desenvolvido por Marcus et al. e varidveis sociodemograficas (sexo, idade, escolaridade dos pais, estado civil, curso, trabalho, moradia, turno de estudo, e renda). Utilizaram-se a analise descritiva, teste qui-quadrado, exato de Fisher e regressao multinomial, bruta e ajustada para estimar odds ratio (OR) e intervalos de confianca de 95% (IC95%). A prevalencia de um comportamento inativo fisicamente foi de 18,2% para o sexo masculino e 23,9% para o feminino. A insatisfacao com a imagem corporal esteve associada com os estagios de mudanca de comportamento para o sexo feminino, sendo que as mulheres com um comportamento inativo fisicamente apresentaram mais chance de insatisfacao com a imagem corporal, tanto por mag