AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE SELF-PERCEPTION ON THE BODY IMAGE AND THE NUTRITIONAL STATUS IN COLLEGE STUDENTS FROM ORENSE

The aim of this study was to detect the possible changes in dietary behavior among college students from the University Campus of Orense by means of self-perception of their body image. 145 college students participated, 107 women (74% of the study population with a mean age of 25.2 +/- 2.9 years) and 38 men (26%, with a mean age of 25.3 +/- 3.3 years). This is a descriptive cross-sectional study using questionnaires and assessing the body mass index (BMI), the subjective weight and using two sub-scales of the Eating Disorders Inventory 2: the body dissatisfaction (EDI-IC) sub-scale and the slimness obsession (EDI-OD) sub-scale. The results show that most of the population had normal weight, there exists no obesity among the female population and there were no underweight cases among the male population. More than half of the population (55% of women and 63% of men) that a distorted judgment of their body as compared to the BMI values, with men underestimating their weight and, among women, there are cases underestimating or overestimating their weight. The women more unsatisfied with their body image were those having overweight or low weight, and those more obsessed with losing weight are those in the upper limit of the normal weight. Among men, those having overweight or obesity are the most unsatisfied and most obsessed with losing weight.