A prospective study of body image dissatisfaction and BMI change in school-age children

Abstract

Objective: Body image dissatisfaction (BID) in school-age children is positively associated with weight status in cross-sectional studies; however, it is uncertain whether BID is a risk factor for the development of adiposity over time. The aim of the present study was to examine the association of BID with changes in BMI in school-age children. Design: Longitudinal study. At recruitment, children were asked to indicate the silhouette that most closely represented their current and desired body shapes using child-adapted Stunkard scales. Baseline BID was calculated as the difference of current minus desired body image. Height and weight were measured at recruitment and then annually for a median of 2·5 years. Sex-specific BMI-for-age curves were estimated by levels of baseline BID, using mixed-effects models with restricted cubic splines. Setting: Public primary schools in Bogotá, Colombia. Subjects: Six hundred and twenty-nine children aged 5-12 years. Results: In multivariable analyses, thin boys who desired to be thinner gained an estimated 5·8 kg/m 2 more BMI from age 6 to 14 years than boys without BID (P = 0·0004). Heavy boys who desired to be heavier or thinner gained significantly more BMI than boys without BID (P = 0·003 and P = 0·007, respectively). Thin girls who desired to be heavier or thinner gained significantly less BMI than girls without BID (P = 0·0008 and P = 0·05, respectively), whereas heavy girls who desired to be heavier gained an estimated 4·8 kg/m 2 less BMI than girls without BID (P = 0·0006). BID was not related to BMI change in normal-weight children. Conclusions: BID is associated with BMI trajectories of school-age children in a sex-and weight-specific manner.

Correlates of Body Dissatisfaction in Children

“…For example, results of two recent longitudinal studies indicate that body dissatisfaction is an important factor in the prediction of BMI. 2,32 If body dissatisfaction lead to weight gain or loss, it may worsen any ongoing trends towards the use of risky strategies to gain or lose weight. These results should raise public health concerns for preadolescents, as weight related disease such as anorexia has important negative consequences.…”

“…In contrast, the desire of a larger body shape range from 0% to 36% among girls and from 13 to 48% among boys. [1][2][3][4][5][6] Body dissatisfaction increases with age 3,6,7 and affects girls more than boys. 3,8,9 This gender difference, however, is more pronounced in adolescence and adulthood.…”

Heterogeneity of sex-stratified BMI trajectories in children from 8 to 14years old

“…Excessive screen time has also been associated with obesity and weight gain in children [23]. Meanwhile, weight victimization can lead to psychological distress, isolation, avoidance of physical activities, and overeating in children, which can subsequently increase the risk of overweight onset [24][25][26]. In light of the sociocultural perspective, it appears that psychosocial factors pertaining to preadolescents as well as to their parents could represent an interesting addition to previous knowledge.…”

Análisis de los niveles de adiposidad y condición física en jóvenes escolares colombianos

“…Se encontró que, mientras el índice de masa corporal aumentaba con la edad, el porcentaje de grasa disminuía significativamente. Estos resultados coinciden con lo reportado en estudios llevados a cabo en jóvenes de edades parecidas (45)(46)(47)(48), probablemente por el desarrollo muscular debido a la maduración biológica a partir de los 14 años, de tal modo que, a pesar de que el índice de masa corporal aumentó con la edad, el porcentaje de grasa disminuyó.…”

“…Aunque el índice de masa corporal tuvo el mismo comportamiento en las mujeres que en los hombres, el porcentaje de grasa en las mujeres evolucionó en sentido contrario al de los hombres (cuadro 2), es decir, fue mayor en las mujeres de más edad, aunque solo en el grupo más joven se registraron valores de adiposidad significativamente menores que en los otros tres grupos de edad, resultados coincidentes con lo reportado en varias publicaciones recientes (45)(46)(47). El análisis de los resultados indicó que la condición física y el grado de adiposidad fueron diferentes en los hombres y en las mujeres.…”