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Dietary restraint in normal weight and overweight children. A cross-sectional study
1Department of Developmental and Personality Psychology, University of Gent, Belgium. Caroline.Braet@rug.ac.be
Objective:
This study investigated the degree to which actual fatness and negative self-esteem might be linked to dietary restraint in childhood.
Method:
Subjects were 426 boys and 319 girls, aged 10.6 y (+/- 1 y). Forty-nine children were overweight (> 30%) and 149 subjects were in the category 'moderately overweight' (10-30% overweight). Measures of self-esteem and dietary restraint were used in the analyses.
Results:
Dietary restraint was observable in all weight groups and significantly more in girls. Boys and girls with an existing fatness problem showed more dietary restraint. Weight status, not self-esteem, turned out to be the best predictor of dietary restraint.
Discussion:
Because there were good reasons to expect side-effects of the observed dietary restraint in obese children in the long term, valuable alternatives like changes in the life-style and interventions that enhance body image and self-esteem were recommended.