Body dissatisfaction and dieting in 4,952 Norwegian children aged 11–15 years: Less evidence for gender and age differences

Abstract

A number of studies have shown that dieting and body dissatisfaction are highly frequent among adolescents. We here describe the relationship between dieting and body dissatisfaction in 4,952 children selected from the 11, 13 and 15 year age cohorts of the Norwegian national sample in the multinational WHO survey "Health Behavior in School Children". Body dissatisfaction was defined as the subjective experience of being a bit or much too fat and, using this definition, about 20% of the boys reported body dissatisfaction and 7% that they were on a diet. About 37% of the girls reported body dissatisfaction and 15% that they were on a diet. Within the age cohorts, respectively 22%, 30% and 32% reported body dissatisfaction, whereas about 40% overall indicated no body dissatisfaction. Being on a diet was reported by 8% of the 11-year olds, and subsequently increased to 10% (13 years) and 14% (15 years). Multiple regression analysis showed that body dissatisfaction explained 33% of the variance in dieting behaviour, and that the overall effect of gender and age was small. Dieting and body dissatisfaction should therefore be recognised as being equally important among boys, and be counteracted within the framework of a health promotion strategy aimed at the general adolescent population.

Quem são as crianças que se sentem gordas apesar de terem peso adequado?

“…* Child's perception dissatisfaction with ones own body becomes more pronounced as age increases. 7,14,17,19 The desire for a thinner body was more prevalent among children who had a higher BMI. 15,20 In this study, even among children who were not overweight, BMI was associated with feeling fat, revealing a conflict between the standards of normality set by the scientific community and prevailing standards of beauty.…”

Influência do nível socioeconômico sobre comportamentos de risco para transtornos alimentares em adolescentes

“…Por outro lado um maior escore no EAT-26 esteve relacionado com um maior IMC, ou seja, a indivíduos com sobrepeso/obesidade, assim como ocorreu em outros estudos que relacionaram a pontuação no EAT-26 com o estado nutricional, indicando que os adolescentes com obesidade têm maior número de atitudes alimentares anormais do que aqueles eutróficos ou de baixo peso, podendo esse fato predispô-los ao início de um TA 7,11 .…”

Characteristics of Dieting and Nondieting Adolescents in a Psychiatric Inpatient Setting

“…In fact, most dieting among youth does not appear to be related to justified obesity or being overweight but instead to the perception of being overweight (Waaddegaard & Petersen, 2002). In a large Norwegian national sample of 4,952 preadolescents and adolescents, body dissatisfaction or the perception of being fat accounted for a substantial portion of the variance of dieting behavior, even after controlling for age and gender (Borresen & Rosenvinge, 2003). The findings from this study, along with previous work, suggest that understanding the predictors of body dissatisfaction and distorted body shape perceptions among youth could be valuable in preventing maladaptive dieting behaviors.…”