Evaluating Body Mass Index (BMI) and its role in social anxietyof female adolescents in Yazd, Iran

Introduction: body status of individuals has important role in personality shaping and extentof mental health. With regard to prevalence of underweight or obesity and its importance inmental health, the aim of this article was evaluating the Body Mass Index (BMI) and its role insocial anxiety among female adolescents.Method: the method of this article was cross-sectional, which 371 female adolescents in rangeof 14-18 years were selected by Cochran`s formula and cluster sampling method was used.After measuring height and weight, Participants completed social anxiety scale (SAD-FNE).Results: evaluating the BMI showed that 21% were underweight, 70.4% were optimal weight,8.4% were overweight and 3% were obese. ANOVA analysis showed significant differences insocial anxiety between groups (p<.001, f=380.11), such that groups with underweight andoverweight experienced more social anxiety than groups with normal weight.Conclusion: considering the role of variables such as inappropriate BMI in mental status ofindividuals including social anxiety, with the aim of preventing mental disorders in adolescents,special attention to physical condition of this group is needed

کلیدواژه ها:

Body Mass Index ، social anxiety ، adolescents