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Updated: Oct 1, 2026

Assessment of Child Anthropometry in a Large Epidemiologic Study
Published on: February 2, 2017
Global and dimensional self-esteem in preadolescent and early adolescent children who are overweight: age and gender
Allen C Israel1, Masha Y Ivanova
1Department of Psychology, University at Albany, State University of New York, Albany, New York 12222, USA. aci64@albany.edu
Objective:
To examine age and gender differences in global and dimensional self-esteem in children who are overweight.
Method:
As part of a pretreatment assessment, the Perceived Competence Scale for Children was completed by 121 children (ages 8-14) who were overweight and enrolling in a weight reduction program.
Results:
Gender differences in general self-esteem and age differences in physical self-esteem were found. Also, girls who were highly overweight reported lower physical self-esteem than girls who were moderately overweight. However, for boys, the opposite pattern emerged. For both boys and girls, cognitive and social self-esteem predicted general self-esteem and physical self-esteem did not.
Discussion:
Children who are overweight may emphasize dimensions of their self-esteem in nongender stereotyped ways that are protective of their general self-esteem. Understanding developmental trends and gender differences in self-esteem can enhance our ability to assist youth who are overweight in maintaining favorable self-evaluations.
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