BackgroundIn the transition from early to mid-adolescence, gender differences in pubertal development become significant. Body dissatisfaction is often associated with body mass, low self-esteem and abnormal eating habits. The majority of studies investigating body dissatisfaction and its associations have been conducted on female populations. However, some evidence suggests that males also suffer from these problems and that gender differences might already be observed in adolescence.AimsTo examine body dissatisfaction and its relationship with body mass, as well as self-esteem and eating habits, in girls and boys in transition from early to mid-adolescence.MethodsSchool nurses recorded the heights and weights of 659 girls and 711 boys with a mean age of 14.5 years. The Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale and the Body Dissatisfaction subscale of the Eating Disorder Inventory were used as self-appraisal scales. Eating data were self-reported.ResultsThe girls were less satisfied with their bodies than boys were with theirs (mean score (SD): 30.6 (SD 12.2) vs. 18.9 (SD 9.5); p < 0.001). The girls expressed most satisfaction with their bodies when they were underweight, more dissatisfaction when they were of normal weight and most dissatisfaction when they had excess body weight. The boys also expressed most satisfaction when they were underweight and most dissatisfaction when they had excess body weight. The boys reported higher levels of self-esteem than did the girls (mean (SD): 31.3 (4.8) vs. 28.0 (5.9); p < 0.001). The adolescents self-reporting abnormal eating habits were less satisfied with their bodies than those describing normal eating habits (mean (SD): 33.0 (12.9) vs. 21.2 (10.2); p < 0.001).ConclusionsBody mass, self-esteem and eating habits revealed a significant relationship with body dissatisfaction in the transitional phase from early to mid-adolescence in girls and boys, but significant gender differences were also found.

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Objective: Long-term health sequelae of childhood-onset acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) remain largely unknown. Low bone mineral content (BMC) and bone mineral density (BMD) are recognized complications, but it is unknown whether these persist until adulthood. We evaluated skeletal characteristics and their association with ALL therapy in long-term male ALL survivors. Design: This cross-sectional cohort study included 49 long-term male ALL survivors and 55 agematched healthy males. Methods: BMD and compression fractures were assessed by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry; blood biochemistry was obtained for parameters of calcium homeostasis. Results: The ALL survivors (median age 29 years, range 25-38 years), assessed 10-38 years after ALL diagnosis, had lower lumbar spine (P!0.001), femoral neck (P!0.001), and whole-body (PZ0.017) BMD than expected based on normative values. When compared with the controls (median age 30 years, range 24-36 years), the ALL survivors had lower lumbar spine BMC (PZ0.014), lower whole-body BMC (P!0.001), and lower whole-body BMD (P!0.001), but the differences were partly explained by differences in height. Altogether, 20% of the ALL survivors had spinal compression fractures, but these were equally prevalent in the controls. Males diagnosed with ALL before age 5 years had significantly lower BMD values. Other recognized risk factors included untreated hypogonadism, vitamin D deficiency, hypophosphatemia, low IGF-binding protein-3, and low physical activity. Conclusions: At young adulthood, long-term male ALL survivors have significantly reduced BMC and BMD and a high prevalence of spinal compression fractures. Careful follow-up and active treatment of the recognized risk factors are warranted.