Journal of Pediatric Psychology, Vol. 28, No. 7, 2003, pp. 463-472
© 2003 Society of Pediatric Psychology
Obesity, Appearance, and Psychosocial Adaptation in Young African American Children
1 University of Maryland Medical School, 2 Vanderbilt University, Department of Psychology
All correspondence should be sent to Deborah Young-Hyman, PhD, National Institutes of Health, Center for Scientific Review, 6701 Rockledge Drive, Rm 4188 MSC 7848, Bethesda, Maryland 20892. E-mail: younghyd{at}csr.nih.gov.
Objective To evaluate the contributions of weight status, skin tone, peer teasing, and parental appraisals of child's size to self-esteem and psychosocial adjustment in overweight African American children. Method Overweight to very obese 5- to 10-year-old African American children (N = 117) completed measures of self-esteem, skin tone satisfaction, peer teasing, and body size perception. Caregivers completed the Child Behavior Checklist and rated their child's body size. Results Overweight was associated with low appearance self-esteem, and body size dissatisfaction with low global self-worth and low appearance self-esteem in children 8 and older. Appearance self-esteem but not global self-worth was lower in girls than boys. Parental perception of child's size as heavier than average was associated with low child appearance self-esteem. Heavier children also had more parental report of behavior and psychosocial problems, but their scores were in the nonclinical range. Child skin tone dissatisfaction was associated with low global self-worth. Weight-related peer teasing was associated with low self-esteem. Conclusions The relationship between obesity and self-esteem in African American children depends upon age, gender, and children's experiences with teasing and parental evaluation of their size. Other factors, like skin tone satisfaction, contribute to a child's sense of self-worth.
Key words: African-American children; obesity; appearance; self-esteem.
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