Study Finds Overweight Concerns Common Among Young Children

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Regardless of their ethnicity and socioeconomic class, many young children have overweight concerns and body dissatisfaction, states a study published in the February issue of The Journal of Pediatrics. Most studies on disordered eating behaviors and clinical eating disorders have focused on white middle- and upper-class children, the authors point out. For this study, the authors recruited 969 third-grade children from 13 northern California public elementary schools to examine the influence of gender, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status on overweight concerns, body dissatisfaction, desired body shape, and weight-control behaviors.

• Approximately 35% of the girls and 26% of the boys reported a desire to lose weight;



• The girls reported more overweight concerns, more body dissatisfaction, and thinner desired body shapes than the boys;



• Among the girls, African Americans had significantly more overweight concerns than Asian Americans and Filipinas, and Latinas had significantly more overweight concerns than whites, Asian Americans, and Filipinas;



• Among the girls from more educated households, African Americans and Latinas reported significantly more overweight concerns than whites and Asian Americans; and



• The white girls from more educated households reported significantly fewer less overweight concerns and significantly less body dissatisfaction than the white girls from less educated households.

The authors state that "Latina and African American girls may be at greater risk of adopting unhealthful weight control behaviors than previously recognized." They conclude that additional studies on cultural factors relevant to clinical eating disorders and disordered eating attitudes and behaviors is warranted.

Robinson TN, Chang JY, Haydel KF, et al. 2001. Overweight concerns and body dissatisfaction among third-grade children: The impacts of ethnicity and socioeconomic status. Journal of Pediatrics 138(2):181-187.

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MCH Alert. 2001. Arlington, VA: National Center for Education in Maternal and Child Health. http://www.ncemch.org/alert.