Body mass index and self-reported body image in German adolescents

Despite knowledge about eating disorder symptoms in children and adolescents in the general population, relatively little is known about self-reported and sex-specific eating-disorder-related psychopathology, as well as its specific correlates.

880 German school-attending adolescents (15.4 ± 2.2 years) and 30 female patients with AN (16.2 ± 1.6 years) were studied. All participants completed the Eating Disorder Inventory-2 and a Body Image Questionnaire.

There were more overweight males than females (15.2% vs 10.1%, p < 0.001), but more females with underweight than males (6.2% vs. 2.5%, p < .001). Negative body evaluations (p < .001) and dissatisfaction (p < .001) were significantly more frequent in females. Compared to underweight female patients with AN, underweight school-attending females had less negative body evaluations (p < .001) and lower scores on 5 of the 11 EDI-2 subscales (p < .001; p < .05).

Males were more overweight than females, females more underweight. Body image was more important to female than to male youth, yet without reaching pathological values when compared to female patients with AN. Complex emotional and cognitive challenges seem to be a representative factor for eating pathology rather than simply being underweight. These aspects may be relevant for the shift from a thinness-related focus in girls in the general population to the development of an eating disorder.