Examining the relationships between body image, eating attitudes, BMI, and physical activity in rural and urban South African young adult females using structural equation modeling

The persistence of food insecurity, malnutrition, increasing adiposity, and decreasing physical activity, heightens the need to understand relationships between body image satisfaction, eating attitudes, BMI and physical activity levels in South Africa. Females aged 18-23 years were recruited from r...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PloS one 2017-11, Vol.12 (11), p.e0187508-e0187508
Main Authors: Prioreschi, Alessandra, Wrottesley, Stephanie V, Cohen, Emmanuel, Reddy, Ankita, Said-Mohamed, Rihlat, Twine, Rhian, Tollman, Stephen M, Kahn, Kathleen, Dunger, David B, Norris, Shane A
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adipose tissue
Adolescent
Adult
Behavior
Biology and Life Sciences
Body Image
Body mass
Body Mass Index
Body weight
Cross-Sectional Studies
Demographic aspects
Eating
Eating disorders
Environmental Sciences
Exercise
Female
Females
Food habits
Food security
Humans
Malnutrition
Mathematical models
Medicine and Health Sciences
Modelling
Models, Statistical
Nutrition
Obesity
Overweight
People and Places
Physical activity
Physiological aspects
Risk
Risk reduction
Rural areas
Rural Population
South Africa
Structural equation modeling
Surveys and Questionnaires
Teenagers
Urban areas
Urban Population
Young Adult
Young adults
Youth
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Summary:The persistence of food insecurity, malnutrition, increasing adiposity, and decreasing physical activity, heightens the need to understand relationships between body image satisfaction, eating attitudes, BMI and physical activity levels in South Africa. Females aged 18-23 years were recruited from rural (n = 509) and urban (n = 510) settings. Body image satisfaction was measured using Stunkard's silhouettes, and the 26-item Eating Attitudes questionnaire (EAT-26) was used to evaluate participants' risk of disordered eating. Minutes per week of moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) was assessed using the Global Physical Activity Questionnaire (GPAQ). Significant linear correlates were included in a series of regressions run separately for urban and rural participants. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to test the relationships between variables. Urban females were more likely to be overweight and obese than rural females (p = 0.02), and had a greater desire to be thinner (p = 0.02). In both groups, being overweight or obese was positively associated with a desire to be thinner (p
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0187508