[Analysis of body image perception of university students in navarra].
BACKGROUND
Current models of beauty represent an extreme thinness in the women and a muscular body in the men. The body image perception will condition the search of ideal beauty through different behaviors and can be transform in eating disorders. The university students, with the changes typical of youth and university transition, are a vulnerable group.


OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the body image perception of university students in Navarra.


METHODS
The study included 1162 subjects of which 64.2% were female. Students asked for a self-managed questionnaire and they were weighted and heighted to calculate the body mass index (BMI). Their body image perception were obtained asking the students to select a picture, according to their perception which corresponded to their current body image from nine different silhouettes for men and women. Their BMI were calculated and compared with their perceived BMI.


RESULTS
43.03% of students, overestimated their body image (10.65% in males and 59.69% in females) and 10.20% of students underestimated it. 46.75% of students had concordance between BMI and body image perception.


CONCLUSIONS
There were more cases the alterations in the body image perception in women. In general, women saw themselves as being fatter than really were while men saw themselves as being thinner than they really were. The results shown that the women were more worried about their weight and body image than the men.
Departamento de Ciencias de la Salud, UPNA, Pamplona. España.. nelia.soto@unavarra.es.
Ma Nelia
MN
Soto Ruiz
Departamento de Ciencias de la Salud, UPNA, Pamplona. España.. blanca.marin@unavarra.es.
Blanca
B
Marin Fernández
Departamento de Ciencias de la Salud, UPNA, Pamplona. España.. ines.aguinaga@unavarra.es.
Inés
I
Aguinaga Ontoso
Departamento de Ciencias de la Salud, UPNA, Pamplona. España.. f.guillen.grima@unavarra.es.
Francisco
F
Guillén-Grima
Departamento de Enfermería Comunitaria y Materno-Infantil, Universidad de Navarra. España.. iserrano@unav.es.
Inmaculada
I
Serrano Mozó
Departamento de Enfermería Comunitaria y Materno-Infantil, Universidad de Navarra. España.. ncanga@unav.es.
Navidad
N
Canga Armayor
Departamento de Ciencias de la Salud, UPNA, Pamplona. España.. juana.hermoso@unavarra.es.
Juana
J
Hermoso de Mendoza Cantón
Unit for Health Promotion Research, University of Southern Denmark, Esbjerg, Dinamarca.. cstock@health.sdu.dk.
Christiane
C
Stock
School of Public Health, Department of Public Health Medicine, University of Bielefeld, Alemania.. alexander.kraemer@uni-bielefeld.de.
Alexander
A
Kraemer
Päiväkumpu Nursing Facility Helsinki, Finlandia.. nelia.soto@unavarra.es.
James
J
Annan
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001504:Beauty; D001828:Body Image / Q000523:psychology*; D015992:Body Mass Index; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012737:Sex Factors; D013030:Spain; D013334:Students; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013851:Thinness; D014495:Universities; D055815:Young Adult