Body dissatisfaction and self-esteem in female students aged 9-15: the effects of age, family income, body mass index levels and dance practice

Body Weight Satisfaction, Comments, Nutrition and Injury Risk in 489 Adolescent Elite Athletes

Exposure to critical body weight comments in youth athletes could lead to decreased self-esteem, affect body image, and increase the risk of eating disorders and cause depressive symptoms. The aim was to explore differences between sex, body mass index, sports type, with regards to body weight satisfaction, exposure to critical body weight comments from their coach and nutrition status in adolescent elite athletes. A questionnaire about body weight, critical body weight comments and nutrition was distributed to 489 adolescent elite athletes and injury prevalence was monitored across 20 weeks. The results showed that almost one in four athletes (n=116, 24%) was not satisfied with their weight and 12% (n=59) had received critical body weight comments from their coach. Of the athletes who were unsatisfied with their body weight (n=116), 47% wanted to lose weight (n=55). A significant (p<0.05) higher proportion of ice hockey players and swimmers used nutritional supplements, were unsatisfied with their body weight, and were more exposed to critical body weight comments compared to athletes from other sports. Adolescent elite athletes as young as 15-16 years old are exposed to critical body weight comments from their coach and experience challenges with body weight satisfaction that is partly dependent on the sport-specific context.

Body Composition and Its Perception among Professional Female Volleyball Players and Fitness Athletes (Silesia, Poland)

Female athletes experience both sociocultural and sport-specific pressures of an ideal body and appearance and are vulnerable to dissatisfaction with their bodies. Among sport-specific pressures, the type of sport is a predictor of body image dissatisfaction. The study included 150 females: 50 volleyball players, 50 bodybuilding and fitness athletes, and 50 female students, who were the control group. Body composition and perception and evaluation of one's own body were assessed. BMI was similar in the study group of female athletes and the control group, but the bodybuilding and fitness athletes had the lowest body fat, while the control group had the highest. Perception of one's own body in the aspect of the evaluation of specific body parts was highest among bodybuilding and fitness athletes, while in the aspect of body condition, the best results were obtained by volleyball players. Most female volleyball players were dissatisfied with their current body weight, as were women in the control group, in contrast to female bodybuilding and fitness athletes, who were most often satisfied with their current body weight.

[Health-related quality of life, psychosocial variables, and academic performance in school-age girls who practice dancing. A comparative study]

Introduction

Introduction: psychosocial development affects health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and academic performance (AP). Objective: to determine differences in self-esteem, body image dissatisfaction, and HRQoL between girls who practice dancing, girls who play sports, and girls who perform no physical activity. To determine the association between these variables and AP. Method: 252 girls between 9 and 14 years of age were enrolled into three groups: no physical activity (NAF, n = 99, 10.25 ± 1.10 years, BMI = 21.97 ± 11.69 kg/m2), sports (DEP, n = 82, 10.54 ± 1.19 years, BMI = 21.36 ± 3.99 kg/m2), and dancing (DAN, n = 71, 10.51 ± 1.2 years, BMI = 20.08 ± 3.68 kg/m2), and anthropometric parameters, psychosocial variables, HRQoL, and AP were measured. Results: HRQoL scores (p < 0.001) and global self-esteem (p = 0.001) were higher for girls who practiced dancing. Regarding HRQoL-related questions (Have you felt well and in good physical condition? (38.0%, p = 0.007); Are you doing well in school? (31.0%, p = 0.010); have you been able to pay attention? (39.4%, p = 0.023)), girls who practiced dancing reported the highest proportion of "very much" responses. The results of a multiple regression analysis showed that HRQoL (B = 0.023, p = 0.001) and school self-esteem (B = 0.054, p = 0.010) were associated with AP. Conclusion: girls who practice dancing have greater self-esteem, HRQoL, and physical and school well-being. This suggests that practicing dancing is an activity that may potentially improve psychosocial well-being and school adaptation.

Reliability and validity of body weight and body image perception in children and adolescents from the South American Youth/Child Cardiovascular and Environmental (SAYCARE) Study

OBJECTIVE

To assess the reliability and validity of body weight (BW) and body image (BI) perception reported by parents (in children) and by adolescents in a South American population.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional study. BW perception was evaluated by the question, 'Do you think you/your child are/is: severely wasted, wasted, normal weight, overweight, obese?' BI perception was evaluated using the Gardner scale. To evaluate reliability, BW and BI perceptions were reported twice, two weeks apart. To evaluate validity, the BW and BI perceptions were compared with WHO BMI Z-scores. Kappa and Kendall's tau-c coefficients were obtained.

SETTING

Public and private schools and high schools from six countries of South America (Argentina, Peru, Colombia, Uruguay, Chile, Brazil).ParticipantsChildren aged 3-10 years (n 635) and adolescents aged 11-17 years (n 400).

RESULTS

Reliability of BW perception was fair in children's parents (κ=0·337) and substantial in adolescents (κ=0·709). Validity of BW perception was slight in children's parents (κ=0·176) and fair in adolescents (κ=0·268). When evaluating BI, most children were perceived by parents as having lower weight. Reliability of BI perception was slight in children's parents (κ=0·124) and moderate in adolescents (κ=0·599). Validity of BI perception was poor in children's parents (κ=-0·018) and slight in adolescents (κ=0·023).

CONCLUSIONS

Reliability of BW and BI perceptions was higher in adolescents than in children's parents. Validity of BW perception was good among the parents of the children and adolescents with underweight and normal weight.

Perceived rather than actual overweight is associated with mental health problems in adolescence

BACKGROUND

Overweight and perceived overweight are common among adolescents. The nature of the relationship between overweight/perceived overweight and mental health problems is still unclear.

AIMS

The aim of this study was to examine whether actual overweight, perceived overweight or both are associated with internalizing and externalizing disorders among adolescents.

METHODS

Data were collected by two similar school surveys in all Finnish-speaking secondary schools in Tampere (population 200,000) in the academic years 2002-2003 and 2012-2013. A total of 2775 acceptable responses were received. All the analyses were carried out separately for girls and boys. Mean age of the respondents was 15.6 years.

RESULTS

In multivariate analyses perceived overweight, not actual weight, was significantly associated with higher risk of self-reported depression (OR: 4.3, 95% CI: 2.9-6.3, p < .001) and self-reported conduct disorder (OR: 2.3, 95% CI: 1.6-3.3, p < .001) in girls and with higher risk of self-reported depression (OR: 3.26, 95% CI: 1.65-6.4, p = .001) and self-reported social phobia (OR: 2.4, 95% CI: 1.0-5.6, p = .05) in boys.

CONCLUSION

Perceived overweight rather than actual weight status is associated with both internalizing and externalizing mental health problems in adolescents.

Demographic differences in and correlates of perceived body image discrepancy among urban adolescent girls: a cross-sectional study

Background

Understanding factors related to girls’ body image discrepancy, which is the difference between self-perceived current or actual and ideal body size, is important for addressing body-related issues and preventing adverse sequelae. Two aims were to: 1) examine demographic differences in body image discrepancy; and 2) determine the association of body image discrepancy with weight status, percent body fat, physical activity, sedentary behavior, and cardiovascular (CV) fitness among young adolescent girls.

Methods

The cross-sectional study included a secondary analysis of baseline data from a group randomized controlled trial including 1519 5th–8th grade girls in 24 U.S. schools. Girls completed physical activity and sedentary behavior surveys. To indicate perceived current/actual and ideal body image, girls selected from nine body figures the one that represented how they look now and another showing how they want to look. Girls wore accelerometers measuring physical activity. Height, weight, and percent body fat were assessed. The Progressive Aerobic CV Endurance Run was used to estimate CV fitness. Independent t-test, one- and two-way ANOVA, correlational analyses, and hierarchical linear regressions were performed.

Results

The majority (67.5%; n = 1023) chose a smaller ideal than current/actual figure. White girls had higher body image discrepancy than Black girls (p = .035). Body image discrepancy increased with increasing weight status (F_3,1506 = 171.32, p < .001). Moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and vigorous physical activity were negatively correlated with body image discrepancy (r = −.10, p < .001; r = −.14, p < .001, respectively), but correlations were not significant after adjusting for race and body mass index (BMI), respectively. Body image discrepancy was moderately correlated with CV fitness (r = −.55, p < .001). After adjusting for demographics, percent body fat, but not CV fitness or MVPA, influenced body image discrepancy. Girls with higher percent body fat had higher body image discrepancy (p < .001).

Conclusion

This study provided important information to guide interventions for promoting a positive body image among girls.

Trial registration

ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier NCT01503333, registration date: January 4, 2012.