Physical appearance and body image of women 45 to 60 years in Dois Irmãos-RS

Abstract

This quantitative, descriptive and cross-sectional study aimed to investigate the self-assessment of physical appearance and body image of 71 women aged 45 to 60 years, members of the practical health project in Dois Irmãos-RS. It was used to evaluate the physical appearance and body image the Body Shape Questionnaire, Portuguese version - Body Image Questionnaire and the Human Figure Test. 30% of respondents reported worrying about fitness and avoiding wearing tight clothing, 35.2% reported concern that people might see waist and stomach folds, and 39.4% sometimes have concerns about pushups. the body. It was also evident that 17% always think they should be on a diet and 18% always avoid wearing body conscious clothing. Regarding self-depreciation, 55% reported concern that their body did not look firm and 74.6% reported feeling disadvantaged in physical appearance compared to other people. Another relevant data refers to the 12.7% of participants who always imagine themselves cutting a body part and 11.3% imagine having this attitude often. However, 91.6% have a normal concern with body image. It is concluded that the women investigated have no severe body distortion.