Body image appearances in adolescents schoolchildren

Abstract

The key objective of this research was to analyse and understand the effects of gender and age on body image appearance at age 12 and 15 in both gender groups. In other words, the study examines how age and gender influence adolescents’ body image appearance. The sample chosen for this study included 1429 schoolchildren (710 boys and 719 girls) from primary and secondary in Tehran. The Body Image Concern Inventory (BICI) was used. The differences between body image appearances of boys and girls between at the ages of 12 and 15 were analysed and compared using the ANOVA test. The ranking of the four group samples was achieved by using mean of body image appearance. Data analysis indicated significant effects of age, gender and other interactions of the variables on body image on boys and girls at the ages of 12 and 15. The result reveals that in the same age category, boys were at a better level of body image appearance than girls. Also, the result revealed that the body image appearance level was better in the younger age category.