Abstract

Introduction

Body image has become a popular topic over the past 35 years. Body image perception is the way a person thinks about or feels for his/her body and perception of others related to his/her body. There is an increasing pressure for a thin shape for women and a lean, muscular shape for men due to biological, psychological and cultural pressures. Body image distortion (misperception of one or features of body) is common which is the core cause of eating disorders. Though, it was argued that eating disorders are culture bound and specific to western societies, recent studies have shown that eating disorders are on the rise and emerging in non-western countries. According to DSM V, eating disorders are classified as anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder, pica, rumination disorder, avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID). Adolescents are more prone to the development of eating disorders because of changes in weight and physical characteristics during puberty The purpose of my study is to provide an overview of body image distortion due to weight concerns among a sample of 11-19 year old adolescents in Punjab, Pakistan. 

Methodology

A questionnaire will be generated with the first part focusing on socio-demographic characteristics of the individual such as name, age, gender, education, marital status and location and the second part which will focus on anthropometrics such as weight and height of the individuals. Body image perception will be assessed by using BAS-2 10 items questionnaire (Body Appreciation Scale) which uses a 5-point Likert scale with responses ranging from 1 (Never) to 5 (Always). SCOFF questionnaire which is simple, easily applied and scored will be used to evaluate the eating disorders.. The collected data will be evaluated using IBM SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences) 20 computer program. 

Results: 

This study will be constructive in the assessment of eating disorders at early stages and impact of body image perception on eating patterns which will be critical in developing policies for the psychotherapy and nutrition counseling sessions of adolescents and their families and for improving self-esteem. Policies will be developed for improving school-based health curriculum to include content aimed at preventing eating disorders, anti-bullying policies and for raising awareness which will decrease the health-care costs and alleviate the employment status of these individuals and will improve the socio-economic status of Pakistan.