Contradicciones del significado de la actividad físico-deportiva en las identidades corporales de las chicas adolescentes

Dentro de la estructura de género que impone la construcción social del cuerpo femenino, el sentimiento de inadecuación del propio cuerpo parece caracterizar la configuración de las identidades corporales femeninas en la adolescencia, motivando que la relación que establecen muchas chicas jóvenes con la actividad físico-deportiva sea compleja y a menudo problemática. Siguiendo un enfoque feminista post-estructuralista, este trabajo se centra en tres conflictos: 1) La actividad física para perder peso, instrumentalizada dentro de los discursos para alcanzar el ideal de belleza o luchar contra la obesidad; 2) El límite socialmente construido para las chicas deportistas entre lo que se considera un tono muscular atractivo y un cuerpo excesivamente musculoso; 3) Los procesos de sexualización y ansiedad física social debido a la exposición del cuerpo a una mirada masculina no deseada en diferentes contextos de práctica físico-deportiva.

Indicators of obesity and the educational attainment of the Czech female population

The aim of this paper was to evaluate the relationship between selected indicators of obesity and the highest completed level of education in the adult female population of the Czech republic. As basic indicators of obesity, these following parameters were selected and measured via the bioimpedance method on the device InBody 720: BMI, WHR (waist-to-hip ratio), % body fat, % skeletal muscle mass, fitness score. The educational attainment of the tested women was inquired by a questionnaire. Based on the responses, we subsequently divided our sample into four categories according to the level of education: primary education, secondary education-apprenticeship, secondary education-graduate diploma, and university. The research was realized within the project CZ.1.07/2.3.00/20.0044. The measurements on the device InBody 720 and the accompanying survey were conducted between 2011-2013 in different regions of the Czech Republic. The sample consisted of 754 women divided into 3 age groups (18-39, 40-59, 60+ years). Based on the results (p<0.05), we can say that average values of the indicators obesity (BMI: 22.76, 24.88, 26.49 kg/m2, WHR: 0.85, 0.88, 0.90 and % body fat: 25.76, 30.23, 34.62%) increase with the increasing age of examined women. The average values of the fitness score (75.53, 73.86, 70.04 points) and % skeletal muscle mass (40.78, 38.15, 33.95%) decrease with increasing age. With regard to the educational attainment, women with secondary education-apprenticeship achieved the worst results. In contrast, the values in university educated women were the best in most indicators of obesity.