Weight and BMI over 6 years in Korean children: relationships to body image and weight loss efforts.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the relationships among longitudinal weight status, body dissatisfaction, and attitude to weight loss among Korean children from the age of 7-8 to 13-14 years old.


METHODS
351 Korean school children's heights and weights were measured at the ages of 7-8 and 13-14 years old; at the age of 13-14, they completed a questionnaire about body dissatisfaction and weight loss efforts.


RESULTS
At the age of 7-8, 15.7% of children were overweight by International Obesity Task Force standards, as compared with 26.2% at the age of 13-14. Of the 55 7- to 8-year-old overweight children, 85.5% were still overweight at the age of 13-14 years old. Greater concerns about body image and stronger desires to be thinner were observed among stable overweight children and among those in whom there had been a rapid increase in BMI over the 6-year study period. Girls favored thinner shapes than did boys, regardless of their weight status or BMI changes. In girls, the level of body dissatisfaction was related only to weight loss desire, regardless of weight status or changes in BMI. In boys, however, weight loss desire was related only to weight loss attempts and was independent of weight status, BMI changes, and level of body dissatisfaction.


CONCLUSIONS
Regardless of weight status, changes in BMI should be considered when dealing with body dissatisfaction and attitudes to weight loss in children.
Lee
Kayoung
K
Department of Family Medicine, Inje University, Busan, Republic of Korea. fmlky@dreamwiz.com
Sohn
Haesook
H
Lee
Sangyeoup
S
Lee
Jinkyoung
J
D000293:Adolescent; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001290:Attitude; D001828:Body Image; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001835:Body Weight; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007723:Korea; D008297:Male; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D015431:Weight Loss