Effect of Media on Body Image Satisfaction among Females at Tanta Faculty of Medicine, Egypt

Walaa M. Shehata, Mira M. Abu-Elenin*

Public Health and Community Medicine Department, Faculty of Medicine, Tanta University, Egypt
*Correspondence Email Address: [email protected]

ABSTRACT
Background: Nowadays, people explore types of mass media on a daily basis. Advertisements, movies and TV shows usually portray women in thin ideal images, which reinforces the perception particularly among women that ‘thin is beautiful. Objectives: This study aimed to assess the effect of media on female’s body image satisfaction among females at Tanta faculty of medicine, Egypt. Methods: This cross-sectional study included 826 females, recruited though stratified random sampling technique from Faculty of medicine, Tanta University. Sociodemographic and anthropometric data were collected using a valid questionnaire. Besides frequency of types of media use and their influences. Level of body image satisfaction was determined by Body-Esteem Scale (BES-35 item). Results: Participated females dissatisfied with their body image were (14.7%).Level of dissatisfaction was significantly higher among respondents who aged 35-45 years, received low education, married ones and employees (21.6%, 25.3%, 16.6% and 24.4%respectively.Higher proportions of respondents who often watch movies and regularly surf the internet were dissatisfied (P = 0.009, P = 0.02 respectively). Media influence had negative moderate correlation with body image satisfaction (r =-0.32, P = 0.0003). Conclusions: Media has an effective role in defining the body image of females. Internet was in the first rank and frequently used, followed by movies while magazine was the least influence.

Keywords: Body image, Egypt, Female, Media, Satisfaction
Citation: Walaa M. Shehata, Mira M. Abu-Elenin. Effect of Media on Body Image Satisfaction among Adults Females at Tanta Faculty of Medicine, Egypt. Canadian Journal of Clinical Nutrition 2020; 8 (1): 54-68.
DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.14206/canad.j.clin.nutr.2020.01.05

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