PERCEPTION AND BODY DISSATISFACTION OF SCHOOL STUDENTS IN A MUNICIPALITY IN SOUTHWEST GOIANO

Abstract

Objective: To analyze the perception and body dissatisfaction of schoolchildren and verify the correlation between the current image and perceived body image. Method: Cross-sectional epidemiological study with 337 students aged 8 to 10 years old, from the city of Jataí – GO, whose weight and height were measured to calculate the body mass index and responded to the Children's Body Image Scale. For data analysis, the Mann-Whitney and Spearman correlation tests were performed, with a significance level of p<0.05. Results: Both boys and girls perceived their body image as different from the real one. There was underestimation of body size by 88.7% of the subjects and dissatisfaction with their appearance in 77.4%, with 55.5% wanting to be thinner and 22% wanting to be fatter. Both underweight and overweight and obese students showed greater perceptual deformity when recognizing their body image in relation to normal weight students (p<0.01). Conclusion: The body dissatisfaction analyzed was high and the children's perception of their bodies was not consistent with reality, pointing to the need for educational action by multidisciplinary teams to increase schoolchildren's awareness of their perception of their own bodies.