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Parental Pressure on Child Body Image, BMI, Body Image Dissatisfaction Associated with Eating Disorders in School-Age
Jiaoyan Chen1, Keke Liu1, Juan Zhang1
1Department of Child and Adolescent Health, School of Public Health, Bengbu Medical College, Bengbu, Anhui, 233030, People's Republic of China.
Insights
Parental pressure on children's body image is linked to eating disorders. Pathways vary by developmental stage, with boys before puberty showing direct links, while post-pubertal children show indirect links through BMI and body image dissatisfaction.
Area of Science:
- Child Psychology
- Developmental Psychology
- Public Health
Background:
- Parental influence on children's eating behaviors, body shape, and body image cognition is significant but may decrease with age.
- Developmental stages may alter the association pathways between parental pressure on children's body image (PPCBI), body mass index (BMI), body image dissatisfaction (BID), and eating disorders (EDs).
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the association pathways between PPCBI, BMI, BID, and EDs in children and adolescents across different developmental stages.
- To understand how parental pressure impacts children's body image and eating disorder risk based on age and pubertal status.
Main Methods:
- A stratified cluster sampling method was employed to recruit 486 students aged 8-15 years.
- Measurements included children's physical characteristics (height, weight, testicular volume, breast development) and validated questionnaires for PPCBI, BID, and EDs.
Main Results:
- Boys before puberty had higher EDs scores than girls before puberty.
- Significant pathways of PPCBI→BMI→BID→EDs and PPCBI→BID→EDs were observed in post-pubertal boys and girls, and in pre-pubertal boys.
- A direct pathway of PPCBI→EDs was found in pre-pubertal boys, and PPCBI→BID→EDs in pre-pubertal girls.
Conclusions:
- Parental pressure on body image can associate with EDs through BMI and BID in post-pubertal children.
- In pre-pubertal boys, parental pressure directly associates with EDs, while in pre-pubertal girls, it indirectly associates via BID.
Background:
Children's eating behaviors, body shape and body image cognition may be more susceptible to the influence of their parents, but these influences may be weakened with age. There may be different association pathways between parental pressure on children's body image (PPCBI), body mass index (BMI), body image dissatisfaction (BID) and eating disorders (EDs) among children and adolescents at different developmental stages.
Methods:
The stratified cluster sampling method (Stratified by grade, and took the classes as clusters) was used to select 486 students aged 8-15 years in two 9-year schools. Children's body height, weight, testicular volume and breast development were measured. PPCBI, BID, and EDs were investigated using the Appearance-related Social Stress Questionnaire, Body Size Questionnaire (BID-14), and EDI-1 scale, respectively.
Results:
The boys before puberty initiation had significantly higher EDs score (182.3±50.8) than girls before puberty initiation (164.1±58.1) (P<0.05). There were significant association pathways of PPCBI→BMI→BID→EDs and PPCBI→BID→EDs in boys before puberty initiation (β=0.035, P<0.01; β=0.059, P<0.01), in boys after puberty initiation (β=0.032, P<0.01; β=0.175, P<0.001), and in girls after puberty initiation (β=0.026, P<0.01; β=0.172, P<0.001). There was a positive association pathway of PPCBI→EDs in boys before puberty initiation (β=0.30, P<0.001) and PPCBI→BID→EDs in girls before puberty initiation (β=0.176, P<0.01).
Conclusion:
Parental pressure on children's body image may positively associate with children's eating disorders through BMI and body image dissatisfaction in boys and girls after puberty initiation and directly associate with eating disorders in boys before puberty initiation; however, it may indirectly associate with eating disorders only through BID in girls before puberty initiation.
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