Asociación entre la conducta alimentaria y la actividad física con la imagen corporal en escolares de primaria de Lima Sur en tiempos de COVID-19

Background: Childhood overweight and obesity are currently a serious global problem, which has also been influenced by behavioral changes caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The objective was to determine the association that exists between eating behavior and the level of physical activity with body image in primary school students in public educational institutions in South Lima during confinement due to COVID-19. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out on first and second grade primary school students from three public educational institutions of regular basic education in South Lima. The final sample that met the inclusion criteria of the study was 193 schoolchildren. Data collection was carried out during 2021 between August and October, when health measures due to COVID-19 were still maintained in Peru. Results: 51.3% of the schoolchildren surveyed were men. The average age was 6.78±0.66 years. Regarding eating behavior, only 3.6% of the schoolchildren presented adequate eating behavior. 78.2% of schoolchildren reported moderate physical activity. The majority of schoolchildren had a satisfactory perception of their body image, represented by 81.9%. When making the association between the physical activity variable and body image, there was a statistically significant association (p>0.01), which does not occur with the eating behavior variable (p>0.05). Conclusions: There is a significant association between the perception of body image and the physical activity of schoolchildren in South Lima. Although this study could not establish an association between body image and eating behavior, it could be found that it does maintain an association with the age and educational level of the student.