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Body image and willingness to change it—A study of university students in Poland

The present study aimed to identify declared patterns of ideal appearance among students at selected higher education institutions in Poland. In the present study, we set out to identify the body image and the propensity to change it. In order to achieve the goal of the study, a nationwide survey wa...

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Autores principales: Platta, Anna M., Mikulec, Anna T., Radzymińska, Monika, Ruszkowska, Millena, Suwała, Grzegorz, Zborowski, Marek, Kowalczewski, Przemysław Łukasz, Nowicki, Marcin
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10619780/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37910539
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0293617
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author Platta, Anna M.
Mikulec, Anna T.
Radzymińska, Monika
Ruszkowska, Millena
Suwała, Grzegorz
Zborowski, Marek
Kowalczewski, Przemysław Łukasz
Nowicki, Marcin
author_facet Platta, Anna M.
Mikulec, Anna T.
Radzymińska, Monika
Ruszkowska, Millena
Suwała, Grzegorz
Zborowski, Marek
Kowalczewski, Przemysław Łukasz
Nowicki, Marcin
author_sort Platta, Anna M.
collection PubMed
description The present study aimed to identify declared patterns of ideal appearance among students at selected higher education institutions in Poland. In the present study, we set out to identify the body image and the propensity to change it. In order to achieve the goal of the study, a nationwide survey was carried out using a voluntary diagnostic survey. A total of 810 respondents took part in the survey. The study was conducted using a custom-made self-designed survey questionnaire with an indirect interview technique via a web-based platform (CAWI). The study results indicate that women were far more eager to maintain an attractive appearance through dieting than men. Importantly, the respondents, both women and men, did not identify influencers as role models of attractive appearance. Results of the present survey reveal that attitudes towards one’s physical appearance are diverse and influenced by the considered factors. The attributes that determined the perception of oneself as an attractive person included height, weight, and body build. Normal body weight is a key feature of an attractive appearance, according to the respondents; nevertheless, students show a higher tolerance for being overweight than for being underweight. Furthermore, preferences in this respect are largely conditioned by individual personal characteristics. According to young people, a person with an attractive appearance is one who eats and exercises regularly, and who does not fall into extremes in terms of their appearance. On the other hand, the fear of growing fat and losing one’s attractive appearance was frequently indicated among the concerns over personal appearance. Only one in five respondents expressed complete satisfaction with how they looked, with men and those with a normal BMI significantly more likely to do so. Respondents expressed readiness to undertake a range of activities related to increased exercise regime, changes in their eating habits, or seeking assistance (e.g., of a personal trainer) to achieve the desired body shape. Our findings can be used as a basis for discussion and consideration in developing educational activities on nutrition, as well as on overweight- and obesity-related health issues.
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spelling pubmed-106197802023-11-02 Body image and willingness to change it—A study of university students in Poland Platta, Anna M. Mikulec, Anna T. Radzymińska, Monika Ruszkowska, Millena Suwała, Grzegorz Zborowski, Marek Kowalczewski, Przemysław Łukasz Nowicki, Marcin PLoS One Research Article The present study aimed to identify declared patterns of ideal appearance among students at selected higher education institutions in Poland. In the present study, we set out to identify the body image and the propensity to change it. In order to achieve the goal of the study, a nationwide survey was carried out using a voluntary diagnostic survey. A total of 810 respondents took part in the survey. The study was conducted using a custom-made self-designed survey questionnaire with an indirect interview technique via a web-based platform (CAWI). The study results indicate that women were far more eager to maintain an attractive appearance through dieting than men. Importantly, the respondents, both women and men, did not identify influencers as role models of attractive appearance. Results of the present survey reveal that attitudes towards one’s physical appearance are diverse and influenced by the considered factors. The attributes that determined the perception of oneself as an attractive person included height, weight, and body build. Normal body weight is a key feature of an attractive appearance, according to the respondents; nevertheless, students show a higher tolerance for being overweight than for being underweight. Furthermore, preferences in this respect are largely conditioned by individual personal characteristics. According to young people, a person with an attractive appearance is one who eats and exercises regularly, and who does not fall into extremes in terms of their appearance. On the other hand, the fear of growing fat and losing one’s attractive appearance was frequently indicated among the concerns over personal appearance. Only one in five respondents expressed complete satisfaction with how they looked, with men and those with a normal BMI significantly more likely to do so. Respondents expressed readiness to undertake a range of activities related to increased exercise regime, changes in their eating habits, or seeking assistance (e.g., of a personal trainer) to achieve the desired body shape. Our findings can be used as a basis for discussion and consideration in developing educational activities on nutrition, as well as on overweight- and obesity-related health issues. Public Library of Science 2023-11-01 /pmc/articles/PMC10619780/ /pubmed/37910539 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0293617 Text en © 2023 Platta et al https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Platta, Anna M.
Mikulec, Anna T.
Radzymińska, Monika
Ruszkowska, Millena
Suwała, Grzegorz
Zborowski, Marek
Kowalczewski, Przemysław Łukasz
Nowicki, Marcin
Body image and willingness to change it—A study of university students in Poland
title Body image and willingness to change it—A study of university students in Poland
title_full Body image and willingness to change it—A study of university students in Poland
title_fullStr Body image and willingness to change it—A study of university students in Poland
title_full_unstemmed Body image and willingness to change it—A study of university students in Poland
title_short Body image and willingness to change it—A study of university students in Poland
title_sort body image and willingness to change it—a study of university students in poland
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10619780/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37910539
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0293617
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