Factors affecting body image perceptions of female college students in urban Malaysia
Autor: | Nur Izatti Mohamad Norzilan, Akira Sai, Takuro Furusawa, Mohd. Yusof Othman, Charlene Sze Yunn Tan, Wan Fatihah Zaimah Wan Zaini, Daiki Tomojiri |
---|---|
Rok vydání: | 2018 |
Předmět: |
050103 clinical psychology
business.industry Endocrinology Diabetes and Metabolism media_common.quotation_subject 05 social sciences Public Health Environmental and Occupational Health Ethnic group Questionnaire Shame 050109 social psychology medicine.disease Obesity language.human_language Internal Medicine language Medicine 0501 psychology and cognitive sciences Social media Risk factor Sociocultural evolution business media_common Demography Malay |
Zdroj: | Obesity Medicine. 11:13-19 |
ISSN: | 2451-8476 |
Popis: | Background The prevalence of obesity is higher in Malaysia than in any other country in Southeast, South, or East Asia. Moreover, obesity increases dramatically among people in their 20s, especially females. Body image has recently been identified as an important risk factor for obesity but has rarely been studied in Malaysia. The present study sought to explore body image and its correlation with other variables among female college students in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia's capital city. Methods A questionnaire survey was administered to 371 female students from three colleges (mean age 20.15 ± 0.16 years). The questionnaire included validated instruments on body image and sociocultural influences along with demographic and personal questions. Results Bivariate analyses found ethnic differences among Malay, Chinese, and Indian Malaysians in such areas as body surveillance, body shame, and pressures from family and media, but the effects of ethnicity and religion disappeared in multivariable general linear model analyses. Exposure to social media (measured by the number of Facebook friends or Instagram followers and the time per day spent on using social networking services [SNSs]) was correlated with lower scores on body image scales. Conclusions Use of social media and SNSs exerted a stronger influence on body image than did ethnicity in this study. Although SNSs are notorious for generating negative psychological consequences, their appropriate use, with regard to both amount and content, may help young females to achieve a healthy lifestyle. |
Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
Externí odkaz: |