Agreement between nutritional status and perception of body image in indigenous Khisêdjê of the Xingu Indigenous Park

To determine the agreement between body self-image (based on the Stunkard figure rating scale) and nutritional status and to evaluate body satisfaction among the Khisêdjê indigenous people of Parque Indígena do Xingu (Xingu Indigenous Park).

A cross-sectional study involving 131 natives aged 20 and older. Data on body image, body mass index and waist circumference were collected. Kappa statistics, χ2 (p < 0.05), crude and adjusted prevalence ratios and Student's t-test were used for data analysis.

The prevalence of overweight and obesity was respectively 42 and 5.3%. The percentage of satisfaction with body profile was 61.8% with no difference between the sexes. There was good agreement between actual and ideal self-image (p < 0.001), but poor agreement between actual and ideal self-image with nutritional status for both sexes. A higher prevalence of body dissatisfaction due to overweight was detected in individuals with central obesity and overweight.

The results suggest that body self-image evaluated by the Stunkard silhouette scale has little applicability as an indicator of nutritional status among the indigenous Khisêdjê of Xingu Indigenous Park.