Abstract:
Body surveillance is increasing among South African men and is associated with
behaviours that threaten physical health, such as eating behaviours, low self-esteem
and body esteem. Although research has been conducted on the relationship
between body surveillance, self-esteem, body esteem and eating behaviours, there
is a paucity of research on the moderator roles of body- and self-esteem in the
relationship between men’s body surveillance and eating behaviour in Limpopo. A
quantitative study was conducted with a sample of 203 male university students from
the University of Limpopo to examine the relationships between body surveillance,
self-esteem, body esteem and eating behaviours. The Eating Choices Index did not
correlate with any variable. Age only correlated with body esteem, and the Revised
Restraint Scale only correlated with its subscales. Following that, further analysis
was conducted to predict self-esteem and body esteem from body surveillance. The
overall predictive models for both self-esteem and body esteem were statistically
significant, but they showed that amount of variance explained was miniscule. It is
recommended that scales used must be subjected to validation.
