The relationship between body surveillance, body esteem, self-esteem and eating behaviour among black male university students

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.