Article Sidebar
Published:
Oct 12, 2021Keywords:
Article Details
The author(s) retain copyright on work published by AOSIS unless specified otherwise.
Licensing and publication rights
Author(s) of work published by AOSIS are required to grant AOSIS the unlimited rights to publish the definitive work in any format, language and medium, for any lawful purpose. AOSIS requires journal authors to publish their work in open access under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence.
The authors retain the non-exclusive right to do anything they wish with the published article(s), provided attribution is given to the applicable journal with details of the original publication, as set out in the official citation of the article published in the journal. The retained right specifically includes the right to post the article on the authors’ or their institution’s websites or in institutional repositories.
Previously published work may have been published under a different licence. We advise the community that if they would like to reuse the work to consult the applicable licence at article level.
Note: If you need to comply with your funding body policy, you can apply for the CC BY license after your manuscript is accepted for publication.
Main Article Content
Body satisfaction of female staff members working in primary schools in Mangaung, Bloemfontein
Ntsoaki L. Meko
Mariette Nel
Abstract
Background: The role of psychosocial determinants of overweight and obesity is receiving attention in South African literature. South Africans tend to exhibit an inaccurate perception of their body weight.
Aims: The purpose of this study was to determine levels of body satisfaction in female staff members working in primary schools in Mangaung, Bloemfontein.
Setting: Mangaung is a peri-urban area in Bloemfontein in the Free State province of South Africa.
Methods: Female staff members over the age of 18 years were invited to participate in the study. Anthropometric measurements of weight and height were measured using standardised techniques to calculate body mass index (BMI). Waist circumference (WC) was measured as an indicator of risk for non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Weight satisfaction was measured using a structured, self-administered body satisfaction questionnaire.
Results: The majority of the staff members (71.3%) were classified as obese (BMI > 30 kg/m2); similarly a majority of them were at a high risk of NCDs according to WC. A little over a third (34.8%) of the women perceived themselves to have a normal weight. The majority of the women who had no concern with their body image were obese (59.1%) and only 8.7% of the women in this study were markedly concerned with their body image. Of the 60.9% of women who reported having attempted to lose weight, 38.6% reported using exercise and 30.0% used water as a weight loss method.
Conclusion: Women’s awareness of a healthy weight should be promoted if efforts to achieve weight loss are to be effective.
