[Odds ratio between sociocultural factors, body dissatisfaction, and body mass index in university students of Hidalgo, Mexico].

Abstract

After to identify risky factors involved in the prediction and prevention of eating disorders (ED), in a sample of university males and females students from an urban setting in Hidalgo. Mexico; the main purpose of this paper was to reaffirm the following assumptions: 1) Dissatisfaction with body shape is closely related to both, the influence of sociocultural factors as Body Mass Index (BMI); 2) The participating women reported more dissatisfaction with body shape, indicating greater influence of sociocultural factors than men.Transversal, descriptive and association field research was carried out in a sample of 490 students (57% females. 43% males), from 16 to 30 years old (X(-) = 19.63, SD = +/- 2.11). Multidimensional self-reported questionnaire were applied. BMI was obtained by measuring each subject's weight and height. Regarding the impact association measures obtained by Odds Ratio, there were significant association (p < 0.05) between high BMI and body image dissatisfaction. Also, statistically significant associations (p < 0.05) were found between body dissatisfaction and sociocultural factors (distress because of body image, influence of advertising, and influence of verbal messages), and between BMI and these latter, where men showed a higher risk. Findings suggest that body dissatisfaction in women, and BMI, specifically overweight in men, act like key agents of the impact of sociocultural factors in the researched sample.