ISSUES
: Body Confidence
Chapter 1: Body Image
3
Children as young as six suffering
body image problems
By Carrie Braithwaite
R
esearch
presented
by
Professor Pinki Sahota
and colleagues from our
University’s Institute for Health &
Wellbeing at this year’s European
Congress on Obesity, in Prague,
shows that children as young
as six and seven years old (Year
2 in the UK school system) are
suffering dissatisfaction with their
body shape.
Few studies have analysed the
association between psychological
wellbeing and body mass index
(BMI) in young children under nine
years old. In this new research,
led by Professor Sahota, with Dr
Meaghan Christian and Dr Rhiannon
Day at Leeds Beckett and Kim Cocks
of KCStats Consultancy, describe
the association of psychological
wellbeing (dieting behaviours and
body image perception) and BMI in
primary school children from Year 2
(age six–seven years) and Year 4 (age
eight–nine years).
Data was collected from 301 pupils
(52% boys) from eight primary
schools in Leeds, participating in
the Phunky Foods feasibility study
– an early years and primary school
programme of healthy lifestyle
activities. Psychological wellbeing
was measured using the Body Shape
Perception Scale and the Measure of
Dieting Behaviours (modified version
of the Dutch Eating Behaviour
Questionnaire).
A total of 59 (19%) of the 301 children
in the study were overweight or
obese. The results showed that
children categorised as overweight
(85th to 95th percentile) or obese
(>=95th percentile) using the World
Health Organization (WHO) BMI
Growth Charts had higher body
shape dissatisfaction scores on
average than normal weight children.
Girls had higher body shape
dissatisfaction scores, showing that
girls had a higher desire to be thinner
than boys. Scores related to dietary
restraint (dieting behaviours) showed
that overweight and obese pupils
reported more dietary restraint than
their normal weight peers. Younger
children aged six–seven years also
reported more dietary restraint than
those aged eight–nine years. Dietary
restraint means that children are
exhibiting dieting behaviours which
may lead to compromising the quality
of the diet at a time when they need a
good quality, healthy diet for growth
and development.
Professor Sahota concluded: “The
results suggested that body shape
dissatisfaction and dietary restraint
behaviours may begin in children as
young as six and seven years old,
and there is an association with
increased BMI. Obesity prevention
programmes need to consider
psychological wellbeing and ensure
that it is not compromised. Further
research should be conducted on
how interventions can help improve
psychological wellbeing in this age
group.”
7 May 2015
Ö
The above information is
reprinted with kind permission
from Leeds Beckett University.
Please visit
.
ac.uk for further information.
© Leeds Beckett University 2016
Prevalence of eating disorder behaviours and cognition at 14
Source: Unhealthy thinking about body and weight ‘can start in childhood’, NHS Choices, 23 July 2015
reported they felt quite a lot of
pressure from the media to
lose weight
18%
of girls
3%
of boys
reported bingeing
reported frequent dieting
reported they
binged
and
dieted
7.5%
of girls
3.5%
of boys
7.6%
of girls
1.6%
of boys
0.5%
of girls
0.4%
of boys
and
“Results showed that
children categorised
as overweight had
higher body shape
dissatisfaction scores
on average than normal
weight children”
