ATTITUDES TOWARDS EXERCISE IN UNIVERSITY STUDENTS: THE RELATIONSHIP WITH EATING HABITS AND BODY INSATISFACTION

Abstract

Félix Arbinaga, Diana García, Isabel Vázquez, Miriam Joaquín y Eloisa Pazos

Attitudes and eating habits have been present in the psychology of sport as factors of important consequences for behaviour and the health of those who carry out physicalsporting activities. 160 university students participated in the study; 34.4% were males and 65.5% females. The average age is 20.76 years with an average value of Body Mass Index (BMI) of 22.51. The attitudes towards exercise are valued by EAFD (Dosil, 2002), the eating habits with CHAD (Dosil y DÃ?Æ?Ã?­az, 2006) and the scale of corporal dissatisfaction from Body Shape Questionnaire (Cooper, Taylor, Cooper, y Fairburn, 1986). The men have been practising more time, they do it more days a week but their sessions last the same as the womenÃ?¢Ã?â?¬Ã?â?¢s. The women are found in inactive states while the men are active (Chi2 = 21.242; p = .000). The men show a greater perceived importance (t = 5.396; p = .000) and a greater practical activity (t = 6.499; p = .000). Those who are found in active states reflect a better perceived importance (t = 7.894; p = .000) and practical activity (t = 9.493; p = .000). As to eating habits, women score higher in fear of getting fat (t = 2.695; p = .008), concern about image/weight (t = 3.145; p = .002), irritability weight/figure (t = 3.742; p = .000), satisfaction/dissatisfaction weight/figure (t = 4.310; p = .000) and going on diets (t = 2.162; p = .032). In the case of active states, they only show differences in irritability weight/figure, scoring higher than the inactive participants (t = 2.522; p = .013). Finally, the women (t = 7.653; p = .000) and those people who are in inactive states (t = 2.863; p = .005) have a higher score in body dissatisfaction.