Introduction: Adolescence is a transitional phase between childhood and adulthood, characterized by a number of cognitive, physical, emotional and attitudinal changes. Their development through the stages of puberty in early adolescence is associated with change in body mass, leading to change in body image, and higher levels of drive for fitness and looking good. Studies suggest that adolescents who are dissatisfied with their bodies are more likely to perceive their health as fair or poor and more likely to show low self-esteem.Objective: To assess the Self Body Image and Perceived Health in adolescents of 13- 17 years attending Urban Health Centre, East Delhi and to study the relationships between Body Image and Perceived health in adolescents.Method: A cross sectional study was conducted in the outpatient department of Urban health centre, Kalyanpuri area located in East Delhi, from July to September 2013. A semi structured, pretested, proforma was administrated to collect data. Sample size of the study was 203 (98 boys and 105 girls), taken by non-probability (convenient) sampling. Proforma included questions related to the Perceived Health, Body Image, Body Satisfaction and anthropometric measurements of study subjects. Data was compiled and analyzed by SPSS version 12.Results: Girls were more likely to report bothersome health issues than boys and the probability of having issues found to be increasing with age. 21.8% of boys ‘do not feel healthy’ as compared to 56.8% that of girls. Proportion of boys who ‘do not feel healthy’ was decreasing with age as compared to that of girls. An average 53% of boys were found to be satisfied with their body as compared to 40.6% in girls. Concern for physical appearance was found to be increasing with age in both boys and girls. Older age groups more often in girls tend to follow certain diets and seem to be more dissatisfied with their weight and appearance. Subjects who were unsatisfied with their body/ physique perceived their health as ‘not good’ and the difference in the two groups was found to be statistically significantConclusion: Adolescence being a very influential phase in life, perception about body image has a role to determine the health. Access to correct information about growth, development and all other issues corroborate with their healthy behaviors. Counseling and personalized health care services would help them to deal with their perceived issues of body image
