Percepção da autoimagem corporal e risco para transtornos alimentares em adolescentes de 11 a 17.

Abstract

The period of adolescence is characterized as a phase that involves many challenges, as it is a period of physiological, behavioral, social transformation, changes in lifestyle and body image. In addition, there is a strong influence of the media on teenagers' choices, as they spend a large part of their time in front of a screen, about 3 to 4 hours a day. Among the influences that occur, the search for the ideal and standardized body stands out because it is related to success and happiness. In this sense, the objective of this research was to identify risk behaviors for Eating Disorders (EDs), correlate with age, sex and body image of adolescents in times of COVID 19. This is an exploratory study of the type transversal, which was developed with adolescents from different locations in Brazil. To this end, volunteers were recruited through invitations via whatsapp, to which a questionnaire made by the google forms platform was applied. The questionnaire contained questions regarding eating attitudes and self-perception of body image. In the present research, we found that most adolescents do not pathologically restrict or reject high-calorie foods, nor were they very concerned about their physical shape, but reported that they sometimes behaved in a way to avoid weight gain. In addition, when assessed by gender, girls reported greater dissatisfaction with their body image. Despite the lower incidence of risk behaviors for eating disorders in adolescents, there was an interdependence between risk behaviors and body image distortions, suggesting that both female and male adolescents are susceptible to eating disorders.