Resumo

SAUCEDO-MOLINA, Teresita de Jesús; MARTINEZ HERNANDEZ, Leyda Cristely  e  BAUTISTA-DIAZ, María Leticia. Risk to develop body thin-ideal internalization in Mexican female adolescents. Interdisciplinaria [online]. 2021, vol.38, n.3, pp.155-168. ISSN 1668-7027.  http://dx.doi.org/10.16888/interd.2021.38.3.9.

It has been reported that when females increase their body mass index (BMI), body thin-ideal internalization (BTII) increased too, as well as disordered eating behaviors (DEB). The aim of this study was to assess the presence of DEB and BTII in adolescent females from Hidalgo, Mexico. We also analyze the association between both variables, and between BMI, body fat percentage (BFP), meal times (MT) and physical activity (PA).

A cross-sectional non-experimental descriptive and of association study was carried out in a no probabilistic sample of 220 high school females, aged from 14 to 18 (Mage= 15.9 ± .99). Self-reported validated questionnaires in Mexican samples were used to assess each one of the variables: the Brief Questionnaire for Risky Eating Behaviors, the Attitudes toward Body Figure Questionnaire, Risk Factors Associated to Eating Disorders for Mexican Pubescents Questionnaire (only the meal times factor was used) and the short version of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ). BMI was obtained by measuring each subject’s weight and height; the body fat percentage (BFP) was measured through Biolectrical Impedance. The protocol was revised and approved by the Ethics and Research Committee of Health Sciences Institute of the Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo. Descriptive analyses were held, as well as Odd Ratio to estimate the risk association.

Total sample showed 17.3 % of moderate risk and 15.5 % of high risk for developing DEB; 23.2 % of the sample reported risk for BTII. From the total of females with DEB (moderate and high risk) 68.6 % also scored risk of body thin-ideal internalization. According to the BMI, results showed that 29.5 % of the sample had overweight and obesity; meanwhile for the BFP in the same categories the value was 85 %. The analysis by BMI showed that adolescents with overweigh (50 % and 39.1 %, respectively) and obesity (47.4 % and 31.6 %, respectively) achieved the highest values for both, DEB and BTII. Interestingly, participants with normal BMI had also important percentages for DEB (26.9 %) as well as BTII (17.9 %). With respect to BFP, females with overweight (41.5 % and 24.4 %, respectively) and obesity (35.6 % and 25.3 %, respectively) had the highest percentages for both DEB and BTII. Again, adolescents with normal BFP showed percentages for DEB (6.4%) and BTII (9.7 %). Findings showed that 68.6 % of the participants with risk of IIED, “never” and “few times” used to eliminate the dinner, and that 80.5 % of the sample had low level for PA. We found that BMI increases significantly 2.7 times the risk of BTII as well as 2.5 times the risk of DEB; BTII increases 11.8 times the risk of DE (Odd Ratio; p < .05).

From the present data, it can be concluded that DEB and BTII are present in the sample studied, and its prevalence were higher than other studies among Mexican females. We also concluded that overweight and obese subjects, for both BMI and BFP, were the ones that obtained the higher percentages of DEB and BTII. Finally, BMI increased significantly the risk of DEB and BTII, as well as BTII increased significantly the risk of DEB. It is necessary that female adolescent prevention programs take into account this in a joint way to guarantee their success.

Palavras-chave : body thin-ideal internalization; disordered eating behaviors; adolescent; body mass index; physical activity.

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