BODY DISSATISFACTION AMONG GYM-GOING FEMALES: INTERPLAY OF BMI, DIET PREFERENCES AND STRUCTURED FITNESS ROUTINE

Abstract

The research study was carried out to study body dissatisfaction among adolescent and young adult female gym-goers. The factors studied were assessing the reasons for joining gym or fitness club, whether they observe any positive modified patterns in their physical bodies, which dietary designs they follow, and what were the reasons for them to follow fitness routine. The difference in body image perceptions with regards to dissatisfaction was also studied between both the groups. The sample population comprised of 200 female gym-goers adolescents and young adults, from various gyms and fitness clubs in Karachi. Their consent was obtained and BMI were recorded, followed by presentation of the study questionnaire that required them to fill up demographics and the BSQ-34 scale. Body Shape Questionnaire (BSQ-34) was used to evaluate the body dissatisfaction in sample. The findings were assessed by using SPSS-23 software with descriptive statistics, t-test, Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation Coefficient, Point Biserial Correlation and ANOVA for testing the hypotheses. The results yielded that BMI was significantly associated with body dissatisfaction, the body awareness showed links with body dissatisfaction, the difference was also studied with regards to body dissatisfaction across preferred dietary patterns among the female population of the study.