Adolescence is a critical period of life in which an individual shapes his or her personality and is for the first time faced with adulthood, which some adolescents are not ready to accept, and this can lead to many problems. At that time, individuals are the most heavily burdened with external environment that surrounds them – from peers whose opinion they find very important to the media, which exemplify the ideal slenderness which is presented as something you need if you want to be successful. This can hurt the development of their (body) self-concept and ultimately lead to the development of eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and compulsive overeating. Therefore in my diploma thesis I devoted my research to the connection between the body self-concept of adolescents and the risk of developing eating disorders.udThe aim of my research was to establish the satisfaction of adolescents with their current body self-concept, how young people perceive their own physical health, what are their eating habits, and what are the views of adolescents to the ideal body promoted by society. I used a survey questionnaire as a research instrument and a descriptive method of pedagogical research. In the sample I included 94 pupils from the 7th, 8th and 9th grades of elementary school. The research has shown that pupils with a healthier body self-concept are in majority and girls are a little less satisfied with their physical appearance than boys. I have found no significant differences in eating habits of pupils with healthier and less healthy self-concept in favor of those with less healthy physical self-concept. According to the pupils with less healthy self-concept the risk of developing eating disorders is most influenced by physical self-concept. The majority of adolescents believe that the most desirable body type in society is athletic. My findings show that body self-concept has a weak connection to development of eating disorders but it is not the only factor, therefore an integrated treatment is required for people that suffer from eating disorders.ud
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