Autoestima corporal, autoconcepto físico y trastornos de la conducta alimentaria en estudiantes universitarios: un estudio transversal

Introduction: currently, the university stage represents a period in which students undergo sig-nificant personal, social, and emotional transformations. In this context, concerns related to body esteem, physical self-concept, and eating disorders often arise.Objective: to determine whether there is a significant relationship between body esteem, phys-ical self-concept, and eating disorders in university students from the south of Peru.Methodology: a quantitative, non-experimental, correlational, and cross-sectional study was conducted. The sample consisted of 474 students who were administered the Body Esteem Scale (BES), the Physical Self-Concept Questionnaire (PSQ), and the Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-26), all of which have adequate metric properties.Results: a high positive correlation was found between body esteem and physical self-concept (r= 0.707, p<0.01), indicating that students with higher body esteem tend to perceive a better physical self-concept. Furthermore, both body esteem (r= -0.277, p<0.01) and physical self-con-cept (r= -0.218, p<0.01) showed significant negative correlations with eating disorders, sug-gesting that lower levels of body esteem and physical self-concept are associated with higher levels of these disorders.Discussion: although some studies support these findings, further research is needed to confirm and expand upon these results.Conclusions: there is a significant relationship between body esteem, physical self-concept, and eating disorders in university students from the south of Peru.