Üniversite Öğrencilerinde Beden Algısı ve Beden Kitle Endisi Arasındaki İlişkinin İncelenmesi

The body perception is defined as the awareness and imagination of the individual's own body. Obesity prevalence has increased rapidly in young adults in our country. The idealization of thinness in the media is highly affecting the body perception of males and females. The main purpose of the research is to determine the body perception levels of university students and to evaluate the relationship between height, weight and Body Mass Index (BMI). The study was conducted on 617 (304 males and 313 females) university students aged 17-30 years who study in Ankara and Sivas. According to the BMI values 0.3% of male and 6.1% of female were underweight, and 9.9% of males and 6.4% of females were obese. Due to the body perception status, 6.1% of male and 29.6% of female were underweight and 47.7% of male and 20.3% of female were overweight. The sex difference was statistically significant (p<0.05). In both cities, it was determined that males perceived themselves as thin and women perceived themselves as overweight. It was found that females wanted to lose weight with visual concerns and males to lose weight for keep healthy. Females had a higher rate of diet in the last month. The results have also been discussed in terms of the role of the individuals' body dissatisfaction and assessing their physical condition.