Body figure perceptions and preferences among preadolescent children

TLDR

A pictorial instrument was used to assess body figure perceptions in a cross‑sectional survey of 1,118 preadolescent children. Females selected significantly thinner ideal self, ideal girl, and ideal adult figures than males, with 42 % desiring thinner selves, and this bias toward thinness is evident as early as ages 6–7 across all race, grade, and school/community settings.

Abstract

A pictorial instrument was developed to examine perceptions of body figure in a cross-sectional survey of 1118 preadolescent children. Hypothesis testing related to differences in figure selections by gender, grade, race, and school/community setting revealed males selected Ideal Self slightly thinner than Self. However, females selected Ideal Self significantly thinner than Self, as well as thinner than males' selection of Ideal Self and Ideal Girl. Additionally, females made thinner Ideal Adult figure selections than males. Though blacks chose heavier figures than whites, females of both races desired thinner figures. Bias toward thinness among females occurred across all levels of age, weight, race, and school/community setting, with 42% desiring thinner figures. Results of this study suggest that the onset of disparate figure perceptions and expectations regarding thinness among females may be evident as early as 6 and 7 years of age.