Body Perceptions in Young Children: Exploring the Relationship between Perceived Ideal Body Size, Body Dissatisfaction, and Age.

1. Body Perceptions in Young Children:
Examining the Relationship between Ideal
Body Size, Body Dissatisfaction, and Age
1
A Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the degree
MASTER OF SCIENCE
LYNN STIFF
SPRING 2 009
DR. UMOREN, THESIS ADVISOR
Department of Family, Consumer, and Nutrition Sciences

2. CORRECTION
2
 Statistical test used for Hypothesis 2 (p.17):
Previously stated: only the Pearson correlation was used.

 The Pearson correlation was used for the first half of the
hypothesis “there is a positive relationship between ideal
body size and body dissatisfaction.”
 Pearson correlation tests for directional relationship
The linear regression was used for the second half “with

ideal body size predicting body dissatisfaction”
 Linear regression tests for relationships between independent
and dependent relationships
 In this case, ideal body size is independent and body
dissatisfaction is dependent.

3. CORRECTION
3
 Linear Regression Model for Hypothesis 3 (p.21):
Previous model had age and ideal body size as independent

variables when actually age should be the only independent
variable.
 A new model was conducted for each variable
independently with age being independent and ideal body
size and body esteem score as dependent.
 Page numbers from the results forward are now off
by one.

4. INTRODUCTION
4
 Eating and body image disturbances:
5 million people 1
 Women vs. men
¾ to 3 times more in women than men2
1
10% of females suffer from symptoms that may not
meet the diagnostic criteria for eating disorders.3
 Onset begins between ages 10 years and 18
years.2,4

5. IDEAL BODY SIZE AND BODY DISSATISFACTION
5
 Risk factors:
 Acceptance of a thin ideal body size5
 Ages 6 years and 7 years9,12,13
 Body dissatisfaction6
 Increased likelihood of developing with age 9,10,14
 Predicts dietary restraint and maladaptive eating
behaviors10
 Also predicts eating disorders in cross-sectional6,21,22
and longitudinal studies22,23
 Restrained eating or dieting7

6. RATIONALE
6
 The ages when one begins to accept a thin
ideal body size and develop body
dissatisfaction are unknown.
 Could help with developing age-appropriate,
research-based intervention programs for
eating disorders that focus on primary
prevention.

7. PURPOSE
7
 Purpose:
 Explorethe relationship between risk factors
 Examine if there is a relationship between…
Age and ideal body size
1.
Ideal body size and body dissatisfaction
2.
Age, ideal body size and body dissatisfaction
3.

8. VARIABLE DEFINITIONS
8
Variable Definition
Age The number of years one has been alive.
Current Body Size One’s opinion of a figure that looks the most like oneself.
Ideal Body Size One’s opinion of the most desired body figure .8
Discrepancy Score The numeric difference between a figure chosen as ideal
body size and a figure chosen as current body size.
Body Dissatisfaction The extent of one’s cognitive and affective acceptance of
one’s current body size.26
Gender Male or female, as noted by one’s parent or guardian.
Ethnicity The cultural group one identifies with, as noted on consent
form.

9. VARIABLE DEFINITIONS – DISCREPANCY SCORE
9
“The numeric difference between a figure chosen as
ideal body size and a figure chosen as current body
size.”
Ideal Body Size – Current Body Size
Ideal (2) – Current (4) = Discrepancy Score (-2)
Ideal (4) – Current (2) = Discrepancy Score (+2)
-7 -6 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
smaller larger

10. HYPOTHESES
10
There is a negative relationship between age and ideal
1.
body size, such that as age increases one’s ideal body
size decreases.
There is a positive relationship between ideal body size
2.
and body dissatisfaction, with an acceptance of a thin
ideal body size predicting body dissatisfaction.
Age directly plays a role in the relationship between
3.
ideal body size perceptions and body dissatisfaction,
such that as age increases, so do the acceptance of a
thin ideal body size and body dissatisfaction.

11. METHODOLOGY
11
IRB Approval: July 10, 2008

Organizations contacted:

Local school districts

Neighboring school districts

After-school programs

Day camps

Criteria:

Children ages 5 years to 12 years

Located within a thirty-mile radius of NIU

Data collection: late summer - early fall, 2008.


12. 12
CONSENT
FORM
PACKETS
Consent form packets
were distributed to all
participating centers.
Packets included:
1. Information about the
study
2. Consent form to sign
3. List of area providers
that could provide
counseling and
services if a child
became distressed

13. DAY OF DATA COLLECTION
13
 Children not participating were taken to a
separate room
 Steps:
Distributed gender-specific packet
1.
 Contained the child assent form and survey instrument.
The assent form was read out-loud
2.
If children chose not to sign the assent form, they were

taken by their teacher or counselor to another room.
The individual administering the survey began
3.
the survey and read all instructions out loud.

14. 14
Female Survey Tool
SURVEY DESIGN
FIGURE RATING SCALE
• Used in other studies
with adolescents27-29
• Criterion-related
validity 8
• Compared the
pictorial figure
selections with actual
weight and BMI Male Survey Tool
• Increased validity as
age increased
• Test-retest reliability 8
• Discrepancy score was
calculated by taking
ideal body size minus
current body size8

15. 15
Validity and Reliability
SURVEY DESIGN
BODY ESTEEM SCALE • Construct validity was present in the original
testing. 26
• Frequently used in the
assessment of body Convergent: compared with similar sub-scale of the
•
dissatisfaction10,20,27 Self Concept Scale
Divergent: Self esteem and relative weight did not
•
• Survey statements were
correlate
converted into
questions to make them This tool has been used as a measure to validate other
•
easier to understand. scales with similar constructs.10
• Split-half reliability: odd and even scores were
• Score determined by
assigning one point to significantly correlated.26
each statement
• Cronbach’s alpha
designated as indicating
5 years α=0.7410
high body esteem.26 •
7 years α=0.84 10
•
9 years α=0.87 10
•
9 to 12 years α=0.92 27
•

16. 16
PILOT STUDY
SURVEY DESIGN
BODY ESTEEM SCALE Conducted to determine if the questions
developed from the statements of the
SAMPLE QUESTIONS
Body Esteem Scale were clear and
Do you like what you
1.
understandable to the target
look like in pictures?
population.
Do kids your own age
2.
like your looks?
Are you pretty happy
3.
• An additional option of “maybe” was
about the way you
look? added
Do most people have Maybe was equated to a score of 0.5 points.
4. •
a nicer body than
• Modifications to questions 12, 16, 17,
you do?
and 20
SAMPLE ANSWER FORM
1. Yes No Maybe

17. DATA ANALYSIS
17
 SAS for Windows (Version 9.0), NIU
Statistics Dept.
 Pearson Correlation
 All variables
 Hypothesis one: “There is a negative relationship
between age and ideal body size, such that as age
increases one’s ideal body size decreases”
 Part one of hypothesis two: “There is a positive
relationship between ideal body size and body
dissatisfaction…”

18. DATA ANALYSIS
18
 SPSS for Windows (Versions 15.0 and 16.0)
 Linear Regressions
 Part two of hypothesis two: “…with an acceptance of a
thin ideal body size predicting body dissatisfaction.”
 Hypothesis three: “Age directly plays a role in the
relationship between ideal body size perceptions and
body dissatisfaction, such that as age increases, so do
the acceptance of a thin ideal body size and body
dissatisfaction.”

19. DATA ANALYSIS
19
 SPSS for Windows (Versions 15.0 and 16.0)
 Frequency Distributions
 All variables
 One-way ANOVA
 Influence of gender and ethnicity on variables
 Paired Sample t-test
 Difference between ideal body size and current body size

20. RESULTS
20
The sample:
 42 organizations contacted
4 facilities agreed to participate

 374 children invited to participate
 Parents/guardians of 111 children consented
51 males, 60 females

100 children assented

46 males, 54 females

Data from 95 children used

46 males, 49 females


21. RESULTS – DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS
21
Ethnicity
Means
• Age: x = 7.6 ±1.5 years Other
• CBS: x = 3.75 ±0.92 Not Provided
• IBS: x = 3.67 ±0.90 Multicultural
• t-test indicates no Indian American
difference between CBS Hispanic
and IBS Caucasian
• DS: x = -0.09 ±1.03 African American
• BES: x = 17.10 ± 5.0 0 20 40 60 80

22. RESULTS – PEARSON CORRELATION
22
Pearson correlations between current body size, body esteem score, ideal
body size, age, and discrepancy score
Current Body Ideal Discrepancy
Body Size Esteem Score Body Size Age Score
Current
-0.36883* 0.35970* -0.57811*
1.00 0.11904
Body Size
Body
-0.36883* 0.32824*
1.00 -0.01971 0.10967
Esteem
Score
Ideal Body
0.35970* 0.27353* 0.55340*
-0.01971 1.00
Size
0.27353*
0.11904 0.10967 1.00 0.13539
Age
* indicates significance at a p-value <0.05.

23. RESULTS – LINEAR REGRESSION
23
 Linear regression model for the influence of ideal body size
on body esteem score
R R2 Significance
Body Esteem Score 0.20 0.00 0.850
 Linear regression model for age and ideal body size and age
and body esteem score
R R2 Significance
Ideal Body Size 0.274 0.075 0.008
Body Esteem Score 0.110 0.012 0.290

24. RESULTS – ONE-WAY ANOVA
24
 One-way ANOVA values for the Influence of Gender on
Ethnicity
Body Current Ideal Discrepancy
Esteem Score Body Size Body Size Score
.034 .653 .061 .185
F
Gender
.855 .668 .806 .421
Significance.
.713 2.371* .921 1.476
F
Ethnicity
.640 .036 .484 .196
Significance
*p <0.05
Gender and Ethnicity are independent, constant variables.
Body Esteem Score, Current Body Size, Ideal Body Size, and Discrepancy
Score are dependent variables

25. RESULTS – BOX PLOT AND MEANS
25
Mean Current Body Size by
Box-plot of Ethnicity and
Ethnicity
Current Body Size
Ethnicity Mean
African 3.92 ± 1.497
American
Caucasian 3.65 ± 0.831
Hispanic 4.58 ± 0.917
Indian 2.25 ± 1.061
American
Multicultural 4.00 ± 0.707
Other -
Not Provided 4.17 ± 0.764

26. DISCUSSION
26
 Reject all hypotheses
There is a negative relationship between age and ideal
1.
body size, such that as age increase one’s ideal body size
decreases.
There is a positive relationship between ideal body size
2.
and body dissatisfaction, with a thinner ideal body size
predicting body dissatisfaction.
Age directly plays a role in the relationship between
3.
ideal body size perceptions and body
dissatisfaction, such that as age increases, so do the
acceptance of a thinner ideal body size and body
dissatisfaction.

27. ETHNICITY
27
 Caucasian: 76%
More diverse than similar studies cited in the literature

review
 Ethnicity influenced current body size
Indian American children choose smaller current body

sizes
 Mean current body size chosen: 2.25 ± 1.06
 Only two children were in the Indian
American group - may not fully represent of
their ethnic group

28. AGE AND IDEAL BODY SIZE
28
 Positive relationship
Not expected, nor cited in the literature

 Possibly due to the young age
Mean age: 7.6 years

 Thin ideal body size not yet accepted
 Literature:
 Studies have reported that children in this age
group prefer a thinner ideal body size8,9,12,13
 Many other studies do not find this until
sometime between ages 9 years to 12
years11,16,17,19,21,27-29,33-35

29. IDEAL BODY SIZE AND CURRENT BODY SIZE
29
 No difference found
 Positive relationship found
 Larger children desire ideal body sizes larger
than the ideal body sizes of smaller individuals.
 Does not indicate that the ideal body size is
larger than the current body size
 Not cited in the literature

30. IDEAL BODY SIZE AND DISCREPANCY SCORE
30
 Positive relationship
 As ideal body size decreased, discrepancy score
decreased
 Discrepancy score: Ideal – Current
 Negative: Ideal body size is smaller than current
body size
 Positive: Ideal body size is larger than current
body size

31. IDEAL BODY SIZE AND DISCREPANCY SCORE
31
Current
Ideal
This is an example
of how choosing a
larger ideal body
Discrepancy
size than one’s
Score: -4
counterpart does
not necessarily
indicate the choice
of an ideal body
Ideal Current
size larger than
the chosen current
Discrepancy
body size or than
Score: -2
the counterpart’s
chosen ideal body
size.

32. DISCREPANCY SCORE AND CURRENT BODY SIZE
32
 Negative relationship found
 The larger one’s current body size, the smaller
one’s discrepancy score.
 Literature:
 None found
 Has been found that the larger one’s actual
current body size, calculated by BMI, was
associated with a larger discrepancy score
indicating a smaller ideal body size.17

33. DISCREPANCY SCORE AND BODY ESTEEM SCORE
33
 Positive relationship
 Choice of a smaller ideal body size than current
body size was related to more body
dissatisfaction
 Literature
 Many studies have used discrepancy score to
measure body size satisfaction9,16,17,34,35

34. CURRENT BODY SIZE AND BODY ESTEEM SCORE
34
 Negative relationship
 The larger a child perceives his or her current
body size to be, the less satisfied the child was
with his or her own body.
 Literature:
 None
 Positive relationship between actual current body
size (measured by BMI) and body
dissatisfaction11,20,27
 As BMI increases, so did body dissatisfaction

35. AGE, IDEAL BODY SIZE, AND BODY ESTEEM SCORE
35
 No relationship
 No previous studies
 Age may not play a role
 Other sociocultral and psychological factors may play a
role:
Peer and maternal influences

Media

Mental health status

Puberty

 Exposure to these factors often increases with age
 Age may indirectly influence the acceptance of a thin ideal body
size, but is not itself a mediating factor16

36. ADDITIONAL MEASURES TO EXAMINE
36
 Menarche11
 Is there a difference between awareness and
internalization of a thin ideal body size in
relation to menarche?
 Difference between the awareness and
internalization of a thin ideal body size27,31
 Ifthis is true, then it would be important to
identify when this transition from awareness to
internalization occurs

37. Applications
37
 The present study’s results suggest body
image disturbances may begin in elementary
school
 62% of elementary schools cover some body
image education39
 72% of all schools incorporate some body image
education39
 18% of all schools cover it thoroughly 39

38. APPLICATIONS
38
 Eating disorder prevention programs with
at-risk individuals would be considered
primary or secondary prevention.25
 Primary prevention is believed to be more
successful than traditional medical
interventions at keeping the population
healthy.25
 Would consist of strengthening education and
prevention efforts prior to the typical onset of the
health problem

39. APPLICATIONS
39
 Discrepancy score could be useful in
measuring body dissatisfaction
 Identifyat-risk children
 Allow to screen for males who have larger ideal
body sizes
 Discrepancy score provides three measures in one

40. APPLICATIONS
40
Social Ecological Model
The onset of
eating and
body image
disturbances
may be
influenced by
the various
levels of the
SEM.

41. APPLICATIONS
41
 Eating disorder prevention programs have
more significant results when43:
 Participants older than age 15 years
 Interactive
 Contained dissonance content
 Focused on body acceptance
 Administered by an interventionist
 Only focused on females
 Selected rather than universal

42. LIMITATIONS
42
 Non-probability, convenience sample
 Only 9.5% of contacted centers participated
 Small sample size (95 participants)
 Largely Caucasian (76%)
 Young average age (7.6 years)

43. CONCLUSIONS
43
 Age was positively related to ideal body size
 Similar studies often report an inverse
relationship - increased age correlates with a thin
ideal body size8,9,11-13,16,17,19,21,27-29,33-35
 May be due to the young age of the sample
(mean=7.6 years).
 Beneficial to replicate this study using a sample
with:
older mean age
An
Larger sample sizes of each gender.

44. CONCLUSIONS
44
 The larger a child’s chosen current body size:
 The more body dissatisfaction
 The smaller that child’s chosen ideal body size was to
that child’s chosen current body size (discrepancy
score).
 Examine if this relationship is actual body size
(BMI) or one’s perception of actual body size.
 Would allow more accurate screening results
 BMI from physicals to obtain actual current body size
 Figure Rating Scale to obtain perceived current body
size

45. CONCLUSIONS
45
 Examine present results with previous research to
improve eating disorder prevention programs.
 Few schools are covering body image thoroughly
 Primary prevention could be integrated into the
curriculum of schools covering the topic of body
image

46. 46
Questions?