An exploration to preferred and non-preferred body parts in university students

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to describe the anatomical preferences of students from an university located in Central America. Participants were university females (n = 259, mean age, height, weight and BMI = 18.8 ± 2.9 yr., 159.6 ± 5.9 cm, 57.6 ± 11.9 kg, and 22.6 ± 4.3 kg/m2 , respectively) and males (n = 263; mean age, height, weight and BMI = 18.9 ± 2.5 yr., 172.9 ± 6.3 cm, 69.0 ± 13.1 kg, and 23.0 ± 3.8 kg/m2 , respectively). Participants rated their preferred and non-preferred body parts with a questionnaire. For both genders, the head, neck and face zones were the preferred anatomical area and the non-preferred anatomical areas were the torso and abdomen. Body mass index (BMI) was positively correlated to non-preferred body parts in females (r = 0.164, p = 0.008). In males, BMI was positively correlated to their preferred body parts (r = 0.160, p = 0.009). In conclusion, students from a Central American university rated similarly their preferred but differently their nonpreferred anatomical parts.