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3 - The development of children's shape and weight concerns

from Part II - Scientific underpinnings

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 December 2009

Brett McDermott
By
Andrew J. Hill
Edited by
Tony Jaffa
Brett McDermott
Affiliation:
University of Queensland
Andrew J. Hill
Affiliation:
Leeds University School of Medicine, Leeds, UK
Tony Jaffa
Affiliation:
Phoenix Centre, Cambridge
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Summary

Introduction

Body shape, weight and eating concerns are at the heart of the psychopathology of eating disorders. Journal and magazine surveys report these concerns as commonplace but at their threatening peak during girls' adolescence. The convergence of pubertal growth with social and identity demands underpins body dissatisfaction and fuels behaviours intended to achieve physical change or gain control. Concepts such as thin-ideal internalization help make sense of this process, describing the way an individual cognitively buys into socially defined ideals of attractiveness (Thompson & Stice, 2001). For many, the result is body dissatisfaction since the ideal is some distance from self-appraised reality. And the culprits are easy to identify – fashion models and celebrities, given saturating media coverage and respect by peers and family. However, often overlooked is the way that obesity's negative representation serves to further idealize a thin body.

It is more difficult to say when this process starts, whether these concerns arrive in a rush or have a long gestation. But it seems likely, given the importance of appearance in adult society, that children both ingest and enact these tensions. The purpose of this chapter is to consider what we currently know about the development of children's shape and weight concerns and associated body dissatisfaction. When do they develop and what are their drivers?

Keywords

body dissatisfactionchildren's shapeeating disorderspeersweight concerns
Type
Chapter
Information
Eating Disorders in Children and Adolescents , pp. 32 - 44
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2006

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