Cent Eur J Public Health 2018, 26(1):60-64 | DOI: 10.21101/cejph.a4930

Adolescent body image: results of Czech ELSPAC study

Sylva Šmídová^1,2, Jan Švancara^3,4, Lenka Andrýsková^3,4, Jan Šimůnek^1,2

¹ Centre for Public Health Promotion, National Institute of Public Health, Prague, Czech Republic

² Department of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic

³ Institute of Biostatistics and Analyses, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic

⁴ Research Centre for Toxic Compounds in the Environment, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic

Objectives: The study examined appearance and body satisfaction in adolescents. For these purposes, data from the European Longitudinal Study of Pregnancy and Childhood in the Czech Republic were used.

Methods: The data were collected in 2010 and the sample comprised 3,105 18-year-old respondents.

Results: The research found that the respondents who wished to reduce their weight were mostly women with BMI in the normal range. Based on the body cathexis scale, we found that women compared to men are more critical of stomach, hips, buttocks, and thighs, as well as overall weight and figure. The results showed that criticism of their weight from their immediate environment is unpleasant to both female and male adolescents to such an extent that it makes them try to reduce it. However, it is clear that girls are altogether less satisfied with their bodies than boys.

Conclusion: For both genders, body dissatisfaction is most likely enhanced by critical comments from peers and parents about appearance, body weight etc.

Keywords: body cathexis scale, criticism of appearance, reduction

Received: June 16, 2016; Revised: September 23, 2017; Published: March 30, 2018  Show citation