Body image dissatisfaction and low self-esteem due to physical appeareance in students of the faculty of medicine at the university of los andes (mérida, venezuela)

The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate body image dissatisfaction in relation to low self-esteem due to physical appearance in students of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Los Andes in Mérida, Venezuela.  It was a non-experimental and correlational study.  The sample included 189 students (27% male and 73% female) with an average age of 19.58 ± 1.57 (men: 19.81 years of age ± 1.74 and women: 20.24 years of age ± 1.76).  Participants were intentionally selected from first-year courses of the Medicine, Nursing and Nutrition programs.  The Body Shape Questionnaire (BSQ) (Cooper and Taylor, 1987) was the instrument used to measure body image dissatisfaction and Graffar’s modified method (Méndez and De Méndez, 1994) was applied to determine the participants’ socioeconomic status.  A descriptive analysis (frequency, percentages, mean) and an inferential analysis (one-way ANOVA) were applied to the data using SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences) version 9.0.  One of the most important findings in this study was the determination of a statistically significant relationship between dissatisfaction and body image and between low self-esteem and gender χ2 (2, N= 189) = 9.686, p=0.008.  Using ANOVA also helped determine that differences in the mean for dissatisfaction and low self-esteem levels with body image and gender are statistically significant, F= 11.236; p=0.008, F=10.23; p=0.002, respectively.  Conclusions: results obtained suggest a relationship between dissatisfaction and low self-esteem due to physical appearance. Consequently, subjects reject their body image because of a distorted or undistorted perception of their physical appearance, which can possibly affect self-esteem.  Moreover, it is observed that the students’ psychological health is more related to their satisfaction with their body-image than to the way their body image is perceived. Consequently, this group of participants must be analyzed regarding their self-esteem due to body image, as an expression in the institutional environment.  It is also important to emphasize that gender may be a risk factor concerning eating disorders.  We believe the foregoing because women showed higher dissatisfaction levels because of their physical appearance being conditioned by a higher dissatisfaction with their perceived body image, which is characterized by an overestimation of the physical dimension of their body image.

Pedagogía, diversidad y lenguaje: develando los colores en miradas aprendientes

Recibido 26 de octubre de 2009 • Aceptado 02 de diciembre de 2009 • Corregido 17 de febrero de 2010 En el constante cambio que vivimos, la Pedagogía, en tanto ciencia de la educación, ciencia de la relacionalidad entre seres humanos, es el producto de acuerdos, de procesos comunicativos, procesos socioculturales entrelazados de forma compleja. La atención a la diversidad es una preocupación creciente en ambientes y sociedades plurales, y el lenguaje, como rasgo cultural permite describir nuestras circunstancias y reflexionar sobre ellas para comprenderlas, redimensionar el presente, valorar el pasado e imaginar el futuro. Si tenemos en cuenta que el habla es sólo una de las manifestaciones del lenguaje, si las diversas formas de expresión del cuerpo constituyen formas de lenguaje, se impone la necesidad de pensar cómo nos comunicamos en los procesos pedagógicos.

DINÂMICAS URBANAS NA CIDADE DE BOA VISTA- RR: TENDÊNCIAS CONSTITUTIVAS E DESTRUTIVAS DO PATRIMÔNIO CULTURAL

A preservação do patrimônio cultural se materializa de várias formas. Qualquer que seja a intervenção utilizada para protegê-lo representa a importância que a sociedade e o poder público têm para com história e a memória de seu povo. A cidade de Boa Vista enfrentou um processo de crescimento populacional o que contribui para descaracterizar e por muitas vezes demolir as conformações dos bens históricos e culturais, dada a demanda por espaço urbano. O trabalho pretendeu identificar inicialmente qual a atuação do poder público sobre os bens tombados e sugerir ações para que esses bens sejam utilizados de forma adequada. A metodologia utilizada recaiu no método qualitativo, com teor descritivo. Obteve-se dados por meio da observação das paisagens urbanas, bem como de entrevistas com representantes de órgãos responsáveis pelo legado cultural informações sobre o estágio de preservação. De maneira geral, percebeu-se que o patrimônio cultural vem passando por graves consequências negativas, tais como: colapso das edificações antigas, aumento de processos destruição e abandono, além da descaracterização pelo uso de atividades comerciais. As iniciativas das instituições competentes ainda são insuficientes na proteção do patrimônio.

Sistema público de comunicación en Brasil: el camino hacia la garantía del

 Uno de los derechos humanos fundamentales, el derecho a la comunicación, no está garantizado para todas las personas en Brasil y no forma parte del debate en los medios de comunicación ni se encuentra entre las preocupaciones de la sociedad. Aunque la legislación nacional prohíba el monopolio y el oligopolio, los medios están en manos de pocos y la mayoría de la población se encuentra marginada en el proceso de la producción y la divulgación de la información asumiendo el papel de simple consumidora de noticias. Apartada del acceso a la participación de la comunicación pública a través de los medios, tiene igualmente restringida su libertad de expresión y de elección. Hechos que comprometen no solo derechos individuales y colectivos, sino también la propia consolidación de la democracia brasileña. Un largo camino han recorrido las organizaciones sociales que defienden y exigen el derecho humano a la comunicación. Como uno de los resultados de esta labor, se realizó recientemente la primera Conferencia Nacional de Comunicación, donde estas cuestiones fueron discutidas, mientras una serie de propuestas fueron aprobadas con la participación de representantes del gobierno, de las empresas de comunicación y de la sociedad civil. Entre las proposiciones está la organización y el fortalecimiento de un sistema público de comunicación percibido como una de las más importantes estrategias de democratización de la comunicación. El desarrollo de un sistema público, por sus características diferenciadas de gestión, gobernanza y financiación, se presenta, por lo tanto, como un gran paso para garantizar el derecho humano a la comunicación en el país. Communication is a fundamental right, but it’s not guaranteed to all people in Brazil. Even worse: it’s not even part of the debate in most media nor it is a priority issue amongst society. Even though national laws forbid monopoly and oligopoly in media, most communication companies are owned by few people and most of the population is excluded in the process of producing and broadcasting information – becoming mere news consumers. People have no access to participation in public communication and has also their freedom of speech restricted by media. This problem not only jeopardizes individual and collective rights, but also impedes the consolidation of Brazilian democracy. Social organizations have been struggling to defend and demand communication rights. As a result of this work, Brazil has recently promoted the first National Communications Conference, where these issues were discussed and many propositions were approved with the participation of government, communication corporations and organized civil society representatives. The organization and the strengthening of a communications public system – one of the most important strategies for communication’s democracy - was one of the approved propositions. The development of a public system, with its different forms of management, governance and funding, presents itself as a great step towards the enforcement of communication rights in the country.