Dieting and self-evaluation of figure in school-aged youth in the area of Central Slovakia

The goal of this article is to present the occurrences of dieting and self-evaluation of one's personal body figure through the eyes of school-aged youth in central Slovakia. The data was collected in 25 elementary schools and two 8-year high schools in the Žilina and Banská Bystrica regions from May to June 2010. The group of respondents consisted of 1187 pupils in three age categories: 11-year-olds (313 respondents), 13-year-olds (442 respondents) and 15-year-olds (432 respondents). The standardized questionnaire created for the needs of this HBSC study was used for data collection. The data collection also contained demographic data including: gender, grade, age. The significant interaction of two variables was evaluated using the chi-quadrat test. The statistical analysis was made using STATISTICA software. Approximately half of the respondents (53%) stated that they were not dieting because their weight was “all right” according to the respondent. More than half of the respondents (56.6%) thought that their figure was “just right”. Boys more frequently perceived that their personal figure was “just right”. There were statistically significant differences discovered between gender and dieting (p = 0.000) and also between gender and self-evaluation of one's personal figure (p = 0.000). Statistically significant differences between age and dieting (p = 0.043) were also expected. But on the contrary, no statistically significant differences in self-evaluation of personal figure and age (p = 0.198) were found. Dieting in school-aged youth can result in changes in their cognitive, emotional and social developments. Therefore, it is necessary to consider physical and psychological consequences, including eating disorders, and to also support a healthy lifestyle which includes proper eating habits, regular physical activity and an efficient use of free time.