Abstract

BOTELHO, Fabiano de Souza et al. A study about self-image and alimentary beliefs among adolescents. Psicol. hosp. (São Paulo) [online]. 2007, vol.5, n.2, pp. 57-77. ISSN 2175-3547.

The purpose of this study was to observe how the adolescent feels with regard to his or her weight and what the adolescent considers his ideal weight to be; to observe the degree of self-image distortion and to associate these with the frequency of alimentary beliefs. The research was carried out on adolescents, among 214 middle class subjects between 14 -18 years of age. The data collection was made through two instruments, a multiple choice inventory which was composed of closed questions on socioeconomic data, and questions relating to feelings on alimentary habits and to the Health Beliefs Alimentary Scale. It was seen by the data that the majority of the females with a BMI less than 19kg/m felt that they had normal weight, and about one-third of these saw themselves as above the ideal weight. Conclusion: There was significant discrepancy in frequency in the between-gender comparisons. Also, that alimentary beliefs had occurred in all samples was verified

Keywords : Self-image; Food beliefs; Adolescents.

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