Affiliations: [a] School of Health Sciences, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal
| [b] Center for Health Technology and Services Research, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal
| [c] Department of Sociology and Social Work, Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark
| [d] Department of Business and Management, Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark
| [e] Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
Correspondence:
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Address for correspondence: Maria Piedade Brandão, PhD, School of Health, Universidade de Aveiro, Edifício 30, Agras do Crasto, Campus Universitário de Santiago, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal. Tel./Fax: +00351 234401558; E-mail: mpiedade@ua.pt.
Abstract: BACKGROUND:Appropriate body image self-perceptions provide a good help to increase the feeling of personal well-being, thus having an important impact on health. Universities, having an important role in shaping of the future workers, represent an important setting to approach health issues. OBJECTIVE:This study determined to what extent different types of students in higher education (four categories of students were created: “self-secure”, “perfect”, “destructive” and “apologetic”) are likely to adopt different health risk behaviors. METHODS:A cross-sectional study in a sample of students from five European Universities in the 2016/2017 academic year was conducted. Based on the combination of body image perception and body mass index, four types of students were identified: “self-secure” (overweight students with a good self-esteem); “perfect” (underweight students with a good self-esteem); “destructive” (overweight students with a poor self-esteem); “apologetic” (underweight students with a poor self-esteem). RESULTS:The study reveals that the defined types of students differed in terms of risk behavior. When the control was included, the “self-secure” student type had a reduced likelihood of being on a diet (22.3%) and physically active (17.8%) than other students (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS:The results of this paper raise concerns about the future because the body dissatisfaction of the college student could be a big impact in long term whether at collective, personally or even professionally.
Keywords: Lifestyle, self-perception, health risk behaviors, graduate education
