Is Being a Boy and Feeling Fat a Barrier for Physical Activity? The Association between Body Image, Gender and Physical Activity among Adolescents

Regular physical activity leads to physical and mental health benefits. Previous studies have shown physical activity to be associated with body image and gender. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to explore the associations of body image with physical activity of adolescents and whether gen...

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Autores principales: Kopcakova, Jaroslava, Dankulincova Veselska, Zuzana, Madarasova Geckova, Andrea, van Dijk, Jitse P., Reijneveld, Sijmen A.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2014
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4245606/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25350010
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph111111167
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author Kopcakova, Jaroslava
Dankulincova Veselska, Zuzana
Madarasova Geckova, Andrea
van Dijk, Jitse P.
Reijneveld, Sijmen A.
author_facet Kopcakova, Jaroslava
Dankulincova Veselska, Zuzana
Madarasova Geckova, Andrea
van Dijk, Jitse P.
Reijneveld, Sijmen A.
author_sort Kopcakova, Jaroslava
collection PubMed
description Regular physical activity leads to physical and mental health benefits. Previous studies have shown physical activity to be associated with body image and gender. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to explore the associations of body image with physical activity of adolescents and whether gender modifies this association. We obtained data on body image and physical activity as part of the Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children study in 2010 from Slovakia (n = 8042, age 11–15 years, 49% boys, response rate: 79.5%). Adolescents answered questions about their body image and the frequency of their physical activity. Sufficient physical activity was more likely in adolescents perceiving themselves as fat (OR = 0.63, 95%CI 0.54–0.73) and in boys (OR = 2.15, 95%CI 1.92–2.42). A poor body image among girls was not associated with physical activity, whereas among boys it was associated with less physical activity. Gender seems to moderate the relationship between body image and physical activity in youths. Health promotion should be targeted in particular at boys with a negative body image, as they are at higher risk of physical inactivity.
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spelling pubmed-42456062014-12-02 Is Being a Boy and Feeling Fat a Barrier for Physical Activity? The Association between Body Image, Gender and Physical Activity among Adolescents Kopcakova, Jaroslava Dankulincova Veselska, Zuzana Madarasova Geckova, Andrea van Dijk, Jitse P. Reijneveld, Sijmen A. Int J Environ Res Public Health Article Regular physical activity leads to physical and mental health benefits. Previous studies have shown physical activity to be associated with body image and gender. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to explore the associations of body image with physical activity of adolescents and whether gender modifies this association. We obtained data on body image and physical activity as part of the Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children study in 2010 from Slovakia (n = 8042, age 11–15 years, 49% boys, response rate: 79.5%). Adolescents answered questions about their body image and the frequency of their physical activity. Sufficient physical activity was more likely in adolescents perceiving themselves as fat (OR = 0.63, 95%CI 0.54–0.73) and in boys (OR = 2.15, 95%CI 1.92–2.42). A poor body image among girls was not associated with physical activity, whereas among boys it was associated with less physical activity. Gender seems to moderate the relationship between body image and physical activity in youths. Health promotion should be targeted in particular at boys with a negative body image, as they are at higher risk of physical inactivity. MDPI 2014-10-27 2014-11 /pmc/articles/PMC4245606/ /pubmed/25350010 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph111111167 Text en © 2014 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Kopcakova, Jaroslava
Dankulincova Veselska, Zuzana
Madarasova Geckova, Andrea
van Dijk, Jitse P.
Reijneveld, Sijmen A.
Is Being a Boy and Feeling Fat a Barrier for Physical Activity? The Association between Body Image, Gender and Physical Activity among Adolescents
title Is Being a Boy and Feeling Fat a Barrier for Physical Activity? The Association between Body Image, Gender and Physical Activity among Adolescents
title_full Is Being a Boy and Feeling Fat a Barrier for Physical Activity? The Association between Body Image, Gender and Physical Activity among Adolescents
title_fullStr Is Being a Boy and Feeling Fat a Barrier for Physical Activity? The Association between Body Image, Gender and Physical Activity among Adolescents
title_full_unstemmed Is Being a Boy and Feeling Fat a Barrier for Physical Activity? The Association between Body Image, Gender and Physical Activity among Adolescents
title_short Is Being a Boy and Feeling Fat a Barrier for Physical Activity? The Association between Body Image, Gender and Physical Activity among Adolescents
title_sort is being a boy and feeling fat a barrier for physical activity? the association between body image, gender and physical activity among adolescents
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4245606/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25350010
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph111111167
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