Eating and Body Image Concerns Among Obese and Average-weight Children

Research compared obese and average-weight children with regard to concerns about being or becoming overweight, history of dieting, concerns about the effects of eating food, and perceived discrepancy between real and ideal body image. Participants included 526 obese and average-weight elementary-age school children to whom questionnaires were administered. Gender (male/female), obesity status (obese/average-weight), and grade level (lower elementary/upper elementary) were considered. Obese children were significantly more likely to engage in dieting behaviors, to express concern about their weight, to restrain their eating, and to exhibit more dissatisfaction with their body image than average-weight children. Girls were more likely to exhibit these behaviors than were boys. These findings suggest the importance of studying the emergence of disordered eating habits in childhood.