Girls are more realistic about their physical shape – 07/17/2023 – Equilibrium

The correct perception of their own weight has increased among adolescents in recent years. This is the result of a survey carried out using questionnaires with more than 700,000 young people aged between 14 and 19 years.

Anouk Geraets, researcher responsible for the work published in the journal Child and Adolescent Obesity, says that personal perception is important in making healthy decisions and, therefore, we must accompany it, especially in younger people.

Although adolescents in general are more realistic about their own bodies in recent decades, among boys this understanding has worsened. While the girls had an improvement in the correct perception of weight, with a drop in overestimation, among the boys, the belief that they were thinner than the reality began to prevail.

The expert points out that this difference is the fault of different image standards disseminated by media and advertising vehicles. While a thin female body is valued, men are expected to be more muscular. Adolescents, who are still in the process of self-discovery, are especially susceptible to these influences, developing incorrect ideas about their own physique.

More than a mere dissatisfaction, however, the lack of knowledge of one’s own body mass can harm mental and physical health. Those who underestimate their own weight may fail to seek treatment for overweight or obesity, believing that they do not have the problem. According to the study carried out in Luxembourg, this problem is three times more prevalent in men than in women.

To arrive at the results, the researcher analyzed information collected at intervals of four years between 2002 and 2018. Adolescents from more than 40 countries reported their weight and height, in addition to answering questions such as “Do you think your body is?” through responses ranging from “very thin” to “very fat”.

The researchers analyzed the returns in light of the BMI (body mass index) calculated for each individual, classifying them between those who correctly estimate their body mass and those who under- or overestimate this indicator.

Geraets attributes the variations observed over time to factors such as social movements that seek acceptance of their own bodies, the influx of migrants in search of weight intervention programs and, mainly, changes in beauty standards. According to the researcher, in recent years the female figure with a stronger physique has become more valued.

Despite the large number of countries included in the study, however, the data collected lacks worldwide coverage. Most participants were European teenagers and the survey does not include Latin American data.

In Brazil, a similar survey was carried out by researchers from Santa Catarina. Published this year in the scientific journal Plos One, researchers reveal that dissatisfaction with their own bodies has increased in the population aged 14 to 18 years.

According to data collected from more than a thousand students in the municipal network of Florianópolis, the percentage of dissatisfied students went from 65% to 71%. The authors of the study point out that the Brazilian trend goes against what happens in countries in Europe.

Another work, carried out based on a meta-analysis of 150 scientific studies, shows that obesity among young people aged 10 to 19 has grown in Brazil. Between the decades of 2000 and 2010, the percentage of adolescents overweight increased from 4% to 26%. The problem affects the regions of the country differently, being prevalent, above all, in the southeast and south.

Maria Rita Marques de Oliveira, nutritionist and professor at Unesp (São Paulo State University), says that obesity in this age group can be even more harmful.

“We are seeing an increasingly early incidence of diabetes and hypertension in adolescents associated with obesity,” he says. In addition, the probability of this young person becoming an overweight adult also increases. On the other hand, believing that you have more fat than you actually do can lead to eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia.

For parents, the task remains to have an honest conversation with their children as soon as possible, according to Mariana Bollini e Silva, researcher and doctoral student at Unesp. The recommendation is to seek a qualified health professional to guide the treatment, if necessary. In addition, the specialist emphasizes the need to welcome these young people, without leaving aside the psychic and social context.

“Adolescence, a period of intense physical and psychological transformations, is an opportune period for the treatment and prevention of obesity”, he says.