Perception of Body Image and Dietary Habit Among Adults Aged 20–45 Years at Sunyani Metropolis

Abstract

Objectives: The study assessed the body size perception of respondents against the WHO body mass index and related the body sizes to fat and sugar consumption among 20–45-year-old adults. Methods: The study design was a descriptive cross-sectional survey which involved 200 respondents aged 20–45 years, sampled conveniently. at Sunyani. Data on socio-demographic, fat and sugar consumption, anthropometry (weight in kg, height in cm) were collected. The weight and height data were later converted into body mass index using the World Health Organisation (WHO) classification. Sugar and fat intakes were measured by dietary food based assessment. (Analysis was done using IBM SPSS version 25. Proportions were presented for categorical values. Chi square test of association was used to determine relationship between the independent and the dependent outcome variable. Statistical significant was set at and P < 0.05. Results: The mean age of the respondents was 35 years. About 35.0% of respondents were males and the rest 65.0% females. Sugar and fat consumption among the respondents were within the recommended dietary allowances. Although 75% of respondents had normal body mass index (kg/m2) and 21% were obese based on the WHO classification, Majority (43.0%) of them perceived their body weights were normal. About 48.1% perceived they are either obese or had normal body size. There was no statistically significant association between respondents’ perceived body image and socio-demographic characteristics except for marital status (X2 = 8.82, P = 0.044). There was no statistically significant association between body image perception and dietary intake of fat and sugar. Conclusions: There is great disparity in the perception of respondents body image compared to the WHO classification and married women and men are more particular about how they look. Dietary components studied do not have any