Media has been postulated to be a causal risk factor for body dissatisfaction and increases in eating disorder symptoms. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the media influence on Brazilian undergraduate students and possible associations with age, nutritional status, income and education of family head. METHODS: 2.489 female students from five regions of Brazil answered the "Sociocultural Attitudes Towards Appearance Scale" (SATAQ-3) and its scores among regions were compared by means of a variance analysis. A covariance analysis was performed to evaluate the possible effect of studied variables in the scores. A logistic regression was done to evaluate association of variables with the media influence. RESULTS: There was no regional differences in SATAQ total score (p = 0.164), and subscales Internalization-athlete (p = 0.293) and Pressure (p = 0.150); there was difference for subscales Internalization-general (p = 0.010) e Information (p = 0.002). Age, nutritional status and income influenced the result. CONCLUSIONS: The SATAQ total score were similar among regions, but it was noticed that the South and Northeast regions of Brazil presented the highest scores at Internalization-general and Information subscales. Students under 25 years old, overweight and those with higher income were more influenced by media.
Media influence; appearance; dissatisfaction; university students
