Association between peer relationship problems and childhood overweight/obesity

Boneberger, Anja; Kries, Rüdiger von; Milde‐Busch, Astrid; Bolte, Gabriele; Rochat, Mascha K.; Rückinger, Simon

doi:10.1111/j.1651-2227.2009.01484.x

Cited by 20 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 30 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Similarly, the cooccurrence of obesity and impaired social acceptance has been observed in the US Early Childhood Longitudinal Study when children were 9 to 11-years-old (Jackson & Cunningham, 2015). Interestingly, peer relationship difficulties are apparent even younger, specifically in parental assessments of the well-being of 5-year-old children with obesity (Boneberger, von Kries, Milde-Busch et al, 2009;Griffiths, Dezateux & Hill, 2011). Studies also report more conduct and hyperactivity problems in boys with obesity (Griffiths et al, 2011;Sawyer, MillerLewis, Guy et al, 2006).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 82%

“No fat friend of mine”: Young children's responses to overweight and disability

2016

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Two studies investigated 4-to 6-year-old children's weight bias. In Study 1, 126 children read illustrated books where a main character ('Alfie') was healthy weight, in a wheelchair, or overweight. In Study 2, 150 children read the same stories where the character was female ('Alfina'), or stories where her friends were fat. Children rated 'Alfie'/'Alfina' and a comparison character on nine attributes/behaviours, and chose one that best represented each attribute. Fat and wheelchair 'Alfie'/'Alfina' were rated less likely to win a race, and fat 'Alfie'/'Alfina' as having fewer friends. When forced to choose between characters, fat 'Alfie'/'Alfina' was rejected on most constructs. Children's gender, self-perceived shape, and character's friends' size had no effect on judgements. These findings show children's preferences away from fatness rather than outright rejection, and mostly clearly in friendship choices. Understanding young children's weight bias is important given their increasing involvement in obesity surveillance, prevention, and management.Keywords: Weight bias; Anti-fat attitudes; Stereotyping; Children; Disability; Social rejection 3 "No fat friend of mine": Young children's responses to overweight and disability Bias against people with obesity is evident through well-documented inequities in key areas of people's lives such as employment, education, and healthcare (Puhl & Heuer, 2009). The unacceptability of fatness is reflected in media such as advertising and TV programming and in a portrayal of weight loss that is contingent on personal effort. Given that people with obesity are consequently blamed for their state of body it is unsurprising that experienced (and perceived) weight bias increases vulnerability to psychological and emotional distress.Social marginalization is pivotal to weight bias and stems from the pervasive negative stereotypes regarding the character and behaviour of people with obesity (Puhl & Heuer, 2009). Research into children's obesity stereotyping has a long history and originated in studies of their perception of disability. Asking 10-to11-year-old children, "Which boy (girl) do you like best" from six drawings of children with different physical disabilities, no disability, or obesity, showed the obese child was generally the last to be selected (Richardson, Goodman, Hastorf, & Dornbusch, 1961). In a replication some 40 years later, pre-teen children were even less likely to choose the obese child drawing as being liked over any of the others (Latner & Stunkard, 2003). Increases in obesity prevalence over this period and children's presumed increased familiarity with obesity appear to have done little to ameliorate these negative views.Reviewing the literature on weight stigma in children and adolescents, Puhl and Latner (2007) distinguish educators, parents, and peers as the primary sources of weight bias. The rejection of an obese target (usually a drawing or cartoon) as a friend, someone to play with, or to date, is common to many studies of teens and younge...

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 82%

“No fat friend of mine”: Young children's responses to overweight and disability

2016

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Similarly, overweight children and adolescents are often less liked, and less chosen as friends, and are more rejected, isolated and peripheral to social networks than their normal-weight peers [5,59]. Indeed, large scale community-based studies have shown a greater prevalence of overweight and obesity in preschool children showing problematic relations with their peers in comparison to children with adaptive peer relationships [60]. …”

Section: Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

A review of the psychological and familial perspectives of childhood obesity

Latzer

Stein

2013

J Eat Disord

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Childhood obesity is on the rise in both industrialized and developing countries. The investigation of the psychosocial aspects of childhood obesity has been the focus of long- standing theoretical and empirical endeavor. Overweight in children and adolescents is associated with a host of psychological and social problems such as reduced school and social performance, less favorable quality of life, societal victimization and peer teasing, lower self-and body-esteem, and neuropsychological dysfunctioning. Whereas community samples of obese youngsters usually do not show elevated psychopathology, clinically-referred overweight children show elevated depression, anxiety, behavior problems, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and disordered eating. Parents’ perceptions of their child’s overweight highly influence the well-being of obese children and the way in which they perceive themselves.The present review paper aims to broaden the scope of knowledge of clinicians about several important psychosocial and familial dimensions of childhood obesity: the psychosocial functioning, self and body esteem and psychopathology of overweight youngsters, the influence of children’s perceptions of overweight, including those of the obese children themselves on their well being, and the influence of parental attitudes about weight and eating on the psychological condition of the obese child.

show abstract

“…9,10 In addition to the (future) health disadvantages (for example, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and increased cardiovascular risk 11,12 ), children and adults with overweight/obesity are more prone to social and emotional problems. 13 To help prevent such (future) problems, recognition by parents is of critical importance in the early identification of childhood overweight. If overweight is recognised early in life, prevention and treatment strategies are more likely to be successful.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ethnic differences in maternal underestimation of offspring's weight: the ABCD study

et al. 2011

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Objective: To determine the ethnic variation in maternal underestimation of their child's weight status and the explanatory role of socio-economic status (SES), acculturation and parental body mass index (BMI). Method: A multi-ethnic sample of 2769 normal or overweight/obese children (underweight children excluded) aged 5 -7 years was examined (The Amsterdam Born Child and their Development study), comprising five ethnic subgroups: Dutch (n ¼ 1744), African descent (n ¼ 184), Turkish (n ¼ 86), Moroccan (n ¼ 161) and other non-Dutch (n ¼ 592). Data on mothers' perception of their child's weight status (5-point scale from 'too low' to 'too high'), SES, acculturation, parental BMI and the children's height and weight were collected. Underestimation was defined by comparing maternal perception with the actual weight status of her child (International Obesity Task Force guidelines). Ethnic differences in underestimation were calculated in the normal weight and overweight/obese categories. Results: Underestimation ranged from 3.6 (Dutch) to 15.7% (Moroccan) in normal-weight children, and from 73.0 (Dutch) to 92.3% (Turkish) in overweight/obese children. After correction for ethnic differences in child's BMI, higher odds ratios (ORs) for underestimation were found in the Turkish (normal weight: OR 6.83; 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.33 -20.05 and overweight: OR 2.80; 95% CI 1.12 -6.98) and Moroccan (normal weight: OR 11.55; 95% CI 5.28 -25.26) groups (reference is the Dutch group). Maternal educational level and immigrant generation largely explained the ethnic differences, with a minor contribution of maternal age. After correction, ORs remained higher in the Moroccan group (OR 4.37; 95% CI 1.79 -10.62) among the normal-weight children. Conclusion: Mothers frequently underestimate the actual weight status of their child, especially mothers from Turkish or Moroccan origin. Having a lower SES, being first-generation immigrant and a young mother are important determinants in explaining these differences. As weight perceptions may affect weight gain and almost all mothers of overweight/obese children underestimate their child's weight, health professionals should help mothers (particularly those from ethnic minority groups) to acquire a realistic perception of their children's weight status.

show abstract

Association between peer relationship problems and childhood overweight/obesity

Cited by 20 publications

References 30 publications

“No fat friend of mine”: Young children's responses to overweight and disability

“No fat friend of mine”: Young children's responses to overweight and disability

A review of the psychological and familial perspectives of childhood obesity

Ethnic differences in maternal underestimation of offspring's weight: the ABCD study

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About