Emotional intelligence and body mass index: a descriptive-cross-sectional study with students from the municipality of Soledad, Atlántico (Colombia)

Abstract

This research characterizes the body mass index (BMI) and Emotional Intelligence (EI), differentiated through emotional attention, clarity of feelings and repair of emotions, of a group of 120 schoolchildren from Basic Education in the Municipality of Soledad, Atlántico 11 years old. For the measurement of the variables, the values proposed for the measurement of the Body Mass Index (BMI) in Colombia have been used, as well as the Trait Meta-Mood Scale-24 questionnaire (TMMS24), validated for the Colombian population. The results of this work show infants with severe malnutrition, obesity and overweight inclined towards the difficulty to attend to their emotions, the repair of feelings and the understanding of their emotions. Therefore, it is pertinent to address this problem in the aforementioned institutions, since it may lead to infants suffering from anxiety, fear, and others, associated with bullying due to their body condition, which have affected their self-esteem and may reach be decisive for decision-making such as suicide.

Keywords

• índice de masa corporal (imc)
• inteligencia emocional (ie), malnutrición
• ansiedad
• depresión.