Atitudes alimentares, autoestima, autoimagem corporal, autocrítica e assertividade de mulheres com estado nutricional eutrófico

Abstract

Introduction: Disordered eating behaviors occur when there are maladaptive behaviors related to food, such as the occurrence of restriction, compulsion, and compensatory behaviors, and may be related to attempts to control weight. In addition, there is a scenario in which there is an established standard of beauty related to a thin body. When this body model is not achieved, dissatisfaction with body image is observed, thus, there is the emission of self-critical behaviors, low self-esteem, and deficits in social skills, as observed in assertive behavior. However, little attention has been paid to verifying how such measures behave when correlated and associated with the nutritional status of eutrophy (normal weight). Objective: to verify eating attitudes and satisfaction with the body image of women with eutrophy and their association with assertiveness, self-esteem, and self-criticism. Methods: This is a cross sectional, descriptive, and analytical study carried out in public places in the city of Belém (PA). The participants were women aged 20 to 40 years, living in Belém (PA), who had completed at least high school and had a Body Mass Index (BMI) in the eutrophic range (18.5 to 24.9 kg/m²). The participants answered a form about socioeconomic and demographic data and self-reported weight and height. To assess eating attitudes, the Eating Attitudes Scale (EAAT) was used. To assess body image, the Stunkard Silhouette Scale was applied. Assertiveness was assessed by the Assertive Skills Inventory. In addition, the Rosenberg SelfEsteem Scale and the Forms of Self-Criticism and Self-Reassurance Scale were used to analyze self-esteem and self-criticism, respectively. For statistical analysis, the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (IBM® SPSS®) version 24.0 was used. Results: 203 women participated in the study, the mean age of the participants was 26.5 ± 5.14, mean Body Mass Index of 22.27 ± 1.81 kg/m2 and the mean score obtained in the EAAT was 62.75 ± 13.62, the majority (72.4%; n = 147) were dissatisfied with their body image. In the first article, it was found that the participants who presented more disordered eating attitudes had greater dissatisfaction with their body image (r = -0.311; p = <0.001), more self-critical behavior (r = 0.289; p = <0.001) and low self-esteem (r = -0.213; p = 0.002). In the second article, the results indicated that greater dissatisfaction with body image was associated with greater emission of self-critical behaviors (r=0.170; p=0.015), having high self-esteem was associated with satisfaction with body image (r=-0.179; p=0.010) and there was no correlation between the variables assertiveness and body image of the participants (r=-0.125; p=0.076). Conclusion: The results indicated that even women without excess weight presented disordered eating attitudes and dissatisfaction with body image, which were related to the emission of self-critical behaviors and low self-esteem.