Body dissatisfaction and aesthetic procedures in students

ABSTRACT Dissatisfaction with body image occurs when the individual wants his body to be different from his own perception. Young people tend to have concerns about the body that can affect their physical and psychological health. The study sought to identify the degree of body dissatisfaction and aesthetic procedures made by students. It is an observational and cross-sectional study that used a self-administered digital questionnaire sent by e-mail. Students aged 18 and over, regularly enrolled at the Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora, Campus Governador Valadares (UFJF/GV) between January and March 2020 were included. There were 299 participants, 81.6% of whom were female, 68.2% with a family income of up to 4 minimum wages, 34.8% of the physiotherapy course, and 64.5% did not know Dermatofunctional Physical Therapy. 21.1% had already undergone an aesthetic procedure, and 85.3% reported a desire to perform aesthetic procedures. The desired procedures were mainly to reduce localized fat, with lack of money being the main obstacle. Body Shape Questionnaire (BSQ-8) was used to evaluate body dissatisfaction. 33.4% of the participants show no dissatisfaction, and 14.8% reported severe dissatisfaction. There was an association between body dissatisfaction and whether each individual would like to perform an aesthetic procedure, and in all BSQ-8 categories, the answer yes was more frequent. Despite the low degree of body dissatisfaction found, part of the participants showed severe dissatisfaction, highlighting the need to promote educational actions on the idealization of body image, in order to avoid negative impacts on individuals’ physical and mental health.