Special Issue "Body Image Perception and Body Composition in Different Populations: The Role of Physical Education and Sport"

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Gianpiero Greco
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. Department of Basic Medical Sciences, Neuroscience and Sense Organs, University of Study of Bari, 70124 Bari, Italy
2. Department of Public Security, State Police, Ministry of the Interior, Milan headquarters, 20123 Milan, Italy
Interests: exercise; wellbeing; physical activity; physical fitness; psychological fitness; human performance; healthy lifestyle; tactical population
Special Issues and Collections in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue aims to collect and disseminate the most current research examining the role of physical education and sport in the development of a positive body image perception through education for a healthy lifestyle and the achievement of an optimal body composition.

Body image is the dynamic perception of one’s body—how it looks, feels, and moves. It can change with mood, physical experience, and environment. There are many different factors affecting body image, including gender, media, parental relationships, and puberty, as well as weight and popularity. In Western society, the ideal body for males is muscular and lean, whereas for females, a thin body is viewed as more desirable. For both genders, the desire to alter shape or weight during adolescence is common, and is associated with emotional distress and dramatic measures to alter appearance such as cosmetic surgery, depression, eating disorders and exercise addiction.

Physical education could provide the opportunity to develop a positive body image. People that are sufficiently active enjoy better psychophysical well-being and report more positive physical self-concept and global self-esteem. Sports practice and a healthy lifestyle result in optimal body composition and more positive body image.

Although being physically active is usually encouraged as a health-promoting behaviour, exercising compulsively and excessively is a common purging strategy used to compensate for caloric intake or to change one’s body weight, size or shape. This tendency to develop disordered behaviours around exercise has received numerous labels including, but not limited to, exercise dependence, exercise abuse, exercise addiction, obligatory exercise, and over exercise.

Topics of interest consist of body image intervention works including new training methodologies and programming, nutritional strategies integrated with physical activity, and interventions aimed at improving the quality of physical activity, avoiding strategies that may have a negative impact on people’s body image.

Authors are invited to contribute to this Special Issue by submitting original research articles, meta-analyses, reviews, and brief reports that contribute new knowledge to this area. Papers selected for this Special Issue will be subject to a rigorous peer-review process with the aim of rapid and wide dissemination of research results, developments, and applications.

Dr. Gianpiero Greco
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All papers will be peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. European Journal of Investigation in Health, Psychology and Education is an international peer-reviewed open access quarterly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1000 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • body image perception
  • physical activity
  • physical fitness
  • physical education
  • body composition
  • psychophysical well-being
  • body size
  • self-esteem
  • self-concept
  • exercise addiction

Published Papers (1 paper)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Other

Brief Report
Association between Change in Regional Phase Angle and Jump Performance: A Pilot Study in Serie A Soccer Players
Eur. J. Investig. Health Psychol. Educ. 2021, 11(3), 860-865; https://doi.org/10.3390/ejihpe11030063 - 15 Aug 2021
Viewed by 331
Abstract
Purpose: This observational longitudinal investigation aimed to investigate whether change in bioelectrical regional phase angle (PhA) is a predictor of change in vertical jump performance in elite soccer players. Methods: Fifteen soccer players (age: 28.7 ± 5.0 years, body weight: 82.4 ± [...] Read more.
Purpose: This observational longitudinal investigation aimed to investigate whether change in bioelectrical regional phase angle (PhA) is a predictor of change in vertical jump performance in elite soccer players. Methods: Fifteen soccer players (age: 28.7 ± 5.0 years, body weight: 82.4 ± 6.8 kg, height: 186.0 ± 0.1 cm, body mass index: 23.8 ± 1.2 kg/m2) competing in the first Italian division (Serie A) were included in this study and tested before the pre-season period and after the first half of the championship. Whole body and lower hemisoma PhA were obtained with a phase-sensitive 50 kHz bioelectrical impedance analyzer and legs lean soft tissue was estimated using specific bioimpedance-based equation developed for athletes. Vertical jump performance was assessed using the countermovement jump (CMJ). Results: The major findings of the study are that changes in lower hemisoma PhA are more strongly related with changes in jump performance (r2 = 0.617, p = 0.001) than changes in whole-body PhA (r2 = 0.270, p = 0.047), even after adjusting for legs lean soft tissue and for body mass index (β = 5.17, p = 0.004). Conclusions: These data suggest that changes in lower hemisoma PhA might be used as a tool for evaluating performance related parameters in sports where specific body segments are involved, in preference to the whole-body measured value. Full article
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop