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Sustaining a positive body image in adolescence: an assets-based analysis
Cath Fenton1, Fiona Brooks, Neil H Spencer
1Locum Consultant in Public Health, NHS, Enfield, London, UK.
Health & Social Care in the Community
|December 17, 2009
Summary
Positive body image in adolescents is linked to supportive family communication, feeling intelligent, and perceived teacher interest. These factors are crucial for developing effective obesity prevention programs tailored to young people.
Area of Science:
- Adolescent Psychology
- Public Health
- Health Promotion
Background:
- Childhood obesity interventions raise concerns about negative body image development in youth.
- Understanding the factors influencing adolescent body image is crucial but currently limited.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore health-promoting factors contributing to positive body image in adolescents using a salutogenic, assets-based approach.
- To identify protective factors that enable young people to create or maintain positive body images.
Main Methods:
- Secondary data analysis of the WHO Health Behaviour in School Aged Children Study (2002) from 6425 English adolescents (aged 11-15).
- Self-administered questionnaires were used, with final analysis including 2898 students.
- Stepwise multinomial logistic regression identified factors associated with positive body image.
Main Results:
- Positive body image was associated with ease of communication with a father figure, feeling intelligent, perceived family financial security, and belief in teacher interest.
- Body Mass Index, age, gender, and living with a father were significant predictors of body image.
- Emotional health in young people is partly constructed through a secure and positive body image.
Conclusions:
- Obesity prevention programs can be improved by incorporating assets that support positive adolescent body image.
- A salutogenic curriculum may offer a sustainable alternative to deficit-focused interventions.
- Future research should focus on assets supporting positive body image for better-tailored health promotion.
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