Comparing the Body Image of Male Employees with Regular and Irregular Physical Activity in One of the Ranks of the Police

Body image is a multifaceted construct that shows a person's thoughts, feelings, and behavior toward their body shape, appearance, and attractiveness. The purpose of this research was to investigate the body image and its subscales in the employees of one of the ranks of the police who had regular and irregular sports activities.

The current research is cross-sectional and comparative of two groups. In 2022, 172 male employees of one of the ranks of the police of Tehran City participated in this research using the available sampling method. These people were divided into two groups with regular exercise (94 people) and irregular exercise (78 people) based on the Baecke physical activity questionnaire. To evaluate body image, Marsh's body self-description questionnaire was used. The difference between the groups was analyzed using an independent t-test using SPSS 21 software at a significance level of p= 0.05.

The samples were 172 people with an average age of 35.2±6.5 years. The overall body image index, health subscale, physical activity subscale, sports fitness subscale, strength subscale, endurance subscale, and self-esteem subscale had significant differences in the two groups (p<0.05). The comparison results of the coordination subscale (p=0.26), fat scale (p=0.10), appearance scale (p=0.16), and physical flexibility scale (p=0.10) in the two groups show no significant difference.

It seems that participating in regular physical activities increases the level of physical abilities and physical fitness of a person, which changes the type of assessment and estimation of one's capabilities and ultimately improves it.