Body image, eating behaviours and exercise training among male gym users and male non-users at the university

Abstract

The objective of this study is to analyse whether men who regularly work out in the gym (gym users) can be differentiated from non-user university males from the general population according to the following variables: body image, altered eating habits and altered exercise habits. Two samples took part in the study: one with 78 gym users randomly chosen from gyms in Guadalajara (Jalisco-Mexico) and 340 non-user students from the UNIVA University in Guadalajara. The results of an attitude questionnaire show that as far as body image measured, there was no difference between gym users and non-user men from the general population. It was also observed that gym users had worse eating and physical exercise habits than the men surveyed from the general population. The intensity of the alteration in eating attitudes and attitudes towards physical exercise seem to be linked to the desire to have larger muscles as measured by a figure scale. These data indicate that gym users have a greater pathological tendency in eating and physical exercise habits than the general population. This may be related to engaging in a sport for an aesthetic outcome rather than for health reasons.