Assesing Body Image and Its Relation with Body Mass Index, Food Group Consumption and Physical Activity Among the University of Economic Sciences

Since body image is a person’s attitude about him/herself، a person''s dissatisfaction with their body image may cause lower self esteem، depression، and result may in decreased staff efficiency. Assessing of the factors affecting body image (In this study: body image، BMI، physical activity and food groups’ daily consumption) can help prevent these problems. For this study، 188 of 203 university personnel were selected. For all subjects’، weight and height was measured and complete information was obtained by interviewers using the 4 following questionnaires: Demographic information questionnaire، International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ)، Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ) and Multidimensional Body Self Relation Questionnaire (MBSRQ). BMI and body image did not differ between genders، but physical activity level in men was significantly higher than in women (P=0. 016)، showing a correlation between physical activity and body image in men (r=0. 292)، but not in women. There was a weak correlation between BMI and body image dissatisfaction (r=0. 16). Body image showed no significant relation with any daily food items except milk and dairy products. Finally، we found a formula to calculate body image score from BMI and physical activity by linear regression (p=0. 005). The only factors influencing body image (among the measured factors in this study) were BMI and physical activity. Higher levels of physical activity and low BMI led to more satisfaction of body image. Facilitating appropriate sport environments in work places and related educational physical activity programs، could improve the satisfaction of with body image among staff، there by raising their efficiency.