The aim of this research was to analyse variation in body image perception and satisfaction by age, sex and nutritional status in an adult sample from the Basque Country, Spain. A case-control study was performed for 227 women and 178 men aged 18–70 years. Stunkard’s silhouettes were used to evaluate Current Body Image (CBI) and Ideal Body Image (IBI), as well as dissatisfaction and inconsistency scores. Nutritional status was assessed following the WHO criteria for BMI in an adult population. The sample was divided into four groups based on sex and age (early adulthood <45 years, and middle/older adulthood ≥45 years). The Mann–Whitney U test was employed to evaluate sex and age differences, and the Gamma coefficient to assess the association between body image variables and nutritional status. Significant age differences in CBI (p<0.05) and sex differences in IBI (p<0.001) were detected. Both variables showed a positive association with BMI (p<0.01), which indicates that BMI is a biological characteristic related to body image satisfaction and influences participants’ perception of themselves. Dissatisfaction scores showed that both sex and age differences (p<0.05) were negatively associated with BMI (p<0.001). Only participants ≥45 years presented sex differences in inconsistency scores (p<0.05); this variable was associated with BMI in women (p<0.01). Preferences in body image showed sexual dimorphism, with women preferring thinner bodies than men – a pattern observed in many Western populations – linked in part to sociocultural pressures. Women were more dissatisfied with their bodies than men; a higher dissatisfaction was observed in older relative to younger participants. The results confirm the association between nutritional status and body size perception and satisfaction, but also the relationship between nutritional status and the reliability with which women can classify themselves; in men, this relationship was not as clear.

中文翻译：

---

与西班牙巴斯克地区成年人营养状况相关的身体形象

本研究的目的是分析来自西班牙巴斯克地区的成人样本中身体形象感知和满意度随年龄、性别和营养状况的变化。对 18-70 岁的 227 名女性和 178 名男性进行了病例对照研究。Stunkard 的轮廓用于评估当前身体形象 (CBI) 和理想身体形象 (IBI)，以及不满意和不一致的分数。营养状况按照 WHO 成人 BMI 标准进行评估。样本根据性别和年龄分为四组（成年早期<45岁，成年中/老年≥45岁）。Mann-Whitney U 检验用于评估性别和年龄差异，伽玛系数用于评估身体形象变量与营养状况之间的关联。CBI的显着年龄差异（p<0.05) 和 IBI 的性别差异 (p<0.001) 被检测到。两个变量均与 BMI 呈正相关（p<0.01），表明BMI是与身体形象满意度相关的生物学特征，并影响参与者对自己的感知。不满意评分显示，性别和年龄均存在差异（p<0.05) 与 BMI 呈负相关 (p<0.001)。只有 ≥45 岁的参与者在不一致评分方面存在性别差异（p<0.05); 该变量与女性的 BMI 相关（p<0.01)。身体形象的偏好表现出两性差异，女性更喜欢比男性更瘦的身体——在许多西方人群中观察到的模式——部分与社会文化压力有关。女性对自己的身体比男性更不满意；与年轻参与者相比，老年人的不满情绪更高。结果证实了营养状况与体型感知和满意度之间的关联，以及营养状况与女性对自己进行分类的可靠性之间的关系；在男性中，这种关系并不那么清楚。