The relationship between body dissatisfaction, lifestyle, and nutritional status among university students in Southern China

BACKGROUND: In recent years, obesity in early adulthood has become an urgent global public health concern. Body dissatisfaction may have adverse effects on lifestyle habits, leading to obesity. However, research on nutritional status and body dissatisfaction among Chinese young adults is still insufficient. Therefore, this study aimed to analyze the relationship between body dissatisfaction, dietary habits, physical activity, and nutritional status among university students. In addition, we explored the feasibility of improving university students’ nutritional status by improving the levels of body dissatisfaction. METHODS: This study was conducted in Ganzhou City, Jiangxi Province, China, at a randomly selected university. All 1900 undergraduate students volunteered to participate and signed the consent form. Students were required to completed anthropometric measurements and three questionnaires, which included the Physical Activity Rating Scale-3 (PARS-3), Chinese version of the Dutch Dietary Behavior Questionnaire (C-DEBQ), and Body Dissatisfaction. Of these, 1714 students (age: 18–24 years; men: 933, women: 781) with complete and valid data were included. RESULTS: Higher obesity levels were observed in men compared to women (p<0.01). Meanwhile, body dissatisfaction was higher in women compared to men (p<0.01). Overeating and insufficient physical activity were more problematic in women compared to in men (p<0.01). Multiple regression analyses were conducted separately, with BMI and body dissatisfaction as the dependent variables. Body dissatisfaction (β=0.72, p<0.01), muscle mass (β=0.33, p<0.01), emotional eating score (β=0.05, p<0.01), sex (β=-0.05, p<0.05) and physical activity (β=-0.04, p<0.05) score were significant predictors of obesity. Furthermore, Muscle mass (β=0.61, p<0.01), sex (β=0.54, p<0.01), restrained eating score (β=0.25, p<0.01), physical activity score (β=-0.20, p<0.01) and emotional eating score (β=0.08, p<0.01) were significant predictors of body dissatisfaction. CONCLUSION: The data presented in this study highlight the impact of university students’ body dissatisfaction in China on physical activity deficiency and overeating, discovering that reducing body dissatisfaction has great potential for preventing obesity.