Cognitive-behavioral promotion program for body satisfaction and healthy eating attitudes in adolescents

Abstract

Adolescence is a critical stage marked by a series of biological, psychological, and social changes, during which adolescents face new challenges and pressures that affect their body image, eating attitudes and behaviors. Based on this problem, the objective is to design a cognitive-behavioral program to promote body satisfaction and healthy eating attitudes in adolescents attending the "Hermanos Chávez" sports center, at the "Los Ángeles" site, Colón. This is a non-experimental, cross-sectional, with a quantitative approach and descriptive scope. The population was comprised of 65 adolescents from the "Los Ángeles" site who attend the "Hermanos Chávez" sports center. This was a convenience sample of 30 adolescents (15 females and 15 males) between the ages of 13 and 17, chosen according to inclusion criteria. Bibliographic and inductive-deductive methods were used; the Body Shape Questionnaire (BSQ) and the Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-26) were employed. It was found that 73.33% expressed mild to moderate dissatisfaction with their body shape. The dimension with the highest scores was "preoccupation with food," which includes disorders of thoughts, attitudes, and concerns about food, representing 41.92%. All of the adolescents studied, aged 13 to 17, were not at risk for alarming eating behaviors. A cognitive-behavioral program to promote body image and healthy eating attitudes in adolescents was proposed and evaluated by specialists, who deemed it relevant and appropriate.