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Media influence and body satisfaction among adolescent females, Minia, Egypt

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Abstract

Aim

Body dissatisfaction is an important component of a variety of prevalent health problems. This study aimed to assess the media influences on body dissatisfaction among female college students.

Subjects and methods

This study included a sample of 408 adolescent females who were chosen randomly from Minia University and completed a survey using the the Sociocultural Attitudes Towards Appearance Scale (SATAQ-4) and Body Shape Questionnaire (BSQ) in the period from 1 March to 1 April 2017. In addition, their body mass index (BMI) was measured.

Results

It was found that adolescents who showed marked concern with body shape had higher SATAQ-4 scores. The independent variables (BMI, SATAQ total score and its subscales) explained 58% of the variance in body shape dissatisfaction. The most significant predictors of body dissatisfaction were BMI and subjective feelings of media pressure to have an ideal appearance (β = 0.38 and 0.31, respectively).

Conclusion

There was a relation between media influence and body dissatisfaction in this sample of Egyptian female students. Media literacy training could represent a promising approach to eating and body disturbance prevention.

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Acknowledgements

We acknowledge all participants in the study for their cooperation.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Medicine, Minia University, Minia, 1666, Egypt

    Eman Sameh Mohammed Mostafa, Ehab Salah Eshak, Amany Edward Seedhom & Eman Ramadan Ghazawy

  2. Department of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, El-Minia University, University St., El-Minia, 1666, Egypt

    Eman Sameh Mohammed Mostafa

Authors
  1. Eman Sameh Mohammed Mostafa
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  2. Ehab Salah Eshak
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  3. Amany Edward Seedhom
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  4. Eman Ramadan Ghazawy
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Eman Sameh Mohammed Mostafa.

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Conflicts of interest

No competing interests have been declared by the authors.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. The study protocol was approved by the institution research ethics committee. Approval by the deans of the chosen faculties was obtained.

Informed consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Mostafa, E.S.M., Eshak, E.S., Seedhom, A.E. et al. Media influence and body satisfaction among adolescent females, Minia, Egypt. J Public Health (Berl.) 26, 625–630 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10389-018-0914-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10389-018-0914-8

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