Summary: | Body image plays an important role in managing one’s body weight especially in
female youth. This research identifies the different body image perception, body mass
index (BMI) and dieting behavior among female secondary school students in urban and
rural area of Gombak district, Malaysia. Body mass index (BMI) was carried out on 200
Malay students at four secondary schools around Gombak. It was found that there is no
significant difference in BMI of female students in the urban secondary schools (19.27 ±
3.83kg/m²) and rural secondary schools (18.65 ± 3.60kg/m²). Respondents answered
questions regarding demography and body silhouette chart. Average age of respondents in
urban area is 14.53 ± 0.520 years with a family income of RM4570 ± 1890 and the rural
area is 14.56 ± 0.47 years with a family income of RM1690 ± 580 (p=0.002, p<0.05). Body
image perception was done by asking the respondents to identify own body image through
five picture diagrams provided (Body Silhouette Chart). Although more of urban
respondents giving inaccurate perception compared to rural respondents, however there is
no significant difference in body image perception as compared to body mass index among
urban and rural respondents [t(198)=1.18, p=0.23, p>0.05]. But there is significant
difference between urban and rural respondents in the body image perception and the
desired body image [t(198)=4.57, p<0.05]. Overweight was found to occur among urban
female as compared to rural female adolescents because of the economic status of the urban
adolescents being higher than their rural counterparts. Furthermore, body image perception
among urban and rural adolescents differ from their mother’s perception. Meanwhile, Index
of Mild Dieting showed high and moderate mean scores while Index of Extreme Dieting
Behaviour showed moderate and low mean scores, indicating that the respondents generally
were some what taking actions to control their dietary intake. Urban adolescents seemed to
score more on the Index of Mild Dieting and Index of Extreme Dieting Behaviour, significant differences were seen with their rural counterparts (t=3.2, p=0.02; p<0.05) and Rural Urban Differences in Body Image Perception, Body Mass Index and Dieting Behaviour Among Malay Adolescent Malaysian Schoolgirls 70 (t=2.45, p=0.03; p<0.5) respectively. The result of this research shows that body image and dieting behavior should also be given more attention in promoting healthy living style especially among female adolescents.
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