BMI and body dissatisfaction values in Japanese male and female university students

—Difference in body images according to shilhouette chart—

Abstract

Objective: We conducted this study to examine the relationships among five ranges of BMI and two types of body dissatisfaction in male and female university students in Japan.
Method: We performed a cross sectional study using body composition measurement and questionnaire on body images among Japanese students (4,118 men and 2,677 women), 18 to 22 years old from 14 universities.
Results: The significant difference was detected in all five BMI ranges of female students between the degree of ideal dissatisfaction (ideal shape - current shape) and healthy dissatisfaction (healthy shape - current shape) (p＜0.001). Among men, however, such a significant difference was not found. In addition, the significant difference was not found in the choice of an attractive man between men and women. Conversely, the average silhouette value of the attractive female shape for men was 4.65, and the silhouette value of the attractive female shape for men from the viewpoint of women was 3.97. The female students showed significantly lower body image score than male students (t＝25.08, p＜0.001, d＝0.70).
Conclusion: For female college students, a healthy looking shape was a more plump woman than an ideal shape. As for the attractive shape of men, the difference was not detected between the views from both male and female students. However, for that of women, a slim woman was considered more attractive.