The aim of this work was to develop figure rating scales to evaluate the body image of Brazilian adults and children. Adults and children with known Body Mass Index (BMI) were photographed and had their silhouettes drawn. Based on that, the scales were made by computer graphics. To evaluate the reliability of the scales, test-retest was applied with a gap of one month. Participants included 90 adults (18-60 years old) and 69 children (7-12 years old) of both genders. The instruments presented positive and significant correlations between test and retest for the actual BMI and those perceived as current by adults (r=0,84; p<0,01) and children (r=0,61, p<0,01). It was concluded that the developed scales represent useful instruments for clinical and epidemiological research involving body image perception of Brazilian adults and children.
body image; figure rating scale; reliability
