Introduction: Body image dissatisfaction (BID) is defined as the negative perceptions and feelings a person has about their
body. BID has been proven to have an impact on physical health as well as psychological well-being. The objective of this
study is to find the prevalence of body image dissatisfaction among medical students in Chennai.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was done among 314 medical students studying in a medical college in Chennai. Informed
written consent was obtained from study participants. A semi-structured self-administered questionnaire was used. Body
image discrepancy was assessed using the Contour Drawing Rating Scale. The participants were asked to choose the figure
that most accurately reflects their actual figure (FELT BODY IMAGE) and the figure that they would like to look like (IDEAL
BODY IMAGE). The feel-ideal discrepancy is used as an index of body image dissatisfaction. Any coping habits adopted
for changing body image were also obtained. Misperception is defined as a mismatch between the BMI category and felt
body image.
Results: Among the students, 75.8% were dissatisfied with their body image, of whom, 33.6% had a desire to be thin and
66.3% had a desire to be fat. Among students who were overweight /obese, 93.9% were dissatisfied with their body
image(p<0.001). Among students who had dissatisfaction, 46.6% had adopted coping strategies. However, on comparing
with Body mass index, 51.6% had a misperception about their body image.
Conclusion: The study highlights the high prevalence of body image dissatisfaction as well as misperception among medical
students