Introduction: The increase in abdominal fat and excess weight are related to dissatisfaction with body image, which nowadays is highly prevalent nationally and internationally.
Aim: The purpose of the study was to relate dissatisfaction levels to body image, nutritional status, cardiometabolic risk and cardiorespiratory capacity in pre-adolescent students.
Material and methods: Three hundred and thirty-nine students participated in the study, 165 girls (11.29 ± 0.69 years) and 174 boys (11.22 ± 0.72 years). Anthropometric data were collected: BMI, percentage of body fat (%BF), waist circumference (WC), height-to-weight ratio (HWR), VO2max and body image.
Results: In the comparison by sex, we found higher V02max values in boys (p < 0.001). No significant differences were found for the variables BMI, WC, HWR, blood pressure and body image (p > 0.05); 27.7% of the study sample were overweight and 29.2% were obese. The subjects with obesity had the lowest VO2max levels. Dissatisfaction with body image was found to be associated with nutritional status (p < 0.001). In addition, 8.1% of the obese students presented extreme dissatisfaction with their body image and 19.4% of the children with cardiometabolic risk exhibited some type of dissatisfaction; the two variables were related (p = 0.008).
Conclusions: The study provides evidence that children with malnutrition by excess present disorders associated with body dissatisfaction and other health indicators that limit integral growth in pre-adolescence.