The Associations between Discordance of Body Image and Physical Activities among Adults Aged 19 to 64 Years: Based on the Data from 2010 Community Health Survey

Background: The purposes of this study were to evaluate the discordance of body image and to identify the associations between discordance of body image and physical activities among adults aged 19 to 64 years. Methods: The study included 172,132 subjects from the 2010 Community Health Survey. The discordance of body image was defined as incongruence between body perception with actual body size based on body mass index (concordance vs. discordance: under, over). Physical activities were categorized as moderate to vigorous physical activity and walking activity. The data were analyzed using chi-square test and multiple logistic regression analysis. Results: Subjects who showed concordance between their body perception and their actual body size were 74.9%, while those who showed discordance between the two factors were 25.1% (under-: 20.1%, over-: 5.0%). Among subjects who showed discordance in their body image, the adjusted Odds ratio (OR) for moderate to vigorous physical activity was 0.97 (95% CI, 0.94-1.00), and OR for walking activity was 0.92 (95% CI, 0.90-0.95). Subjects with under-estimated body image had lower OR for walking activity 0.93 (95% CI, 0.90-0.96). Subjects with over-estimated body image had lower ORs for both moderate to vigorous physical activity 0.69 (95% CI, 0.63-0.76) and walking activity 0.89 (95% CI, 0.84-0.95). Conclusion: These findings support the evidence that incongruence in body image serves as a barrier in engaging physical activity. Proper recognition of one’s own body perception is needed in order to improve physical activity.