Abstract

VAZQUEZ-AREVALO, Rosalia; RODRIGUEZ NABOR, Alberto; LOPEZ AGUILAR, Xochitl  and  MANCILLA-DIAZ, Juan Manuel. Assessment of body image in preschoolers: Perception of parents and children. Rev. Mex. de trastor. aliment [online]. 2018, vol.9, n.2, pp.208-220. ISSN 2007-1523.  https://doi.org/10.22201/fesi.20071523e.2018.2.540.

The objective of this research was to determine the body perception (BP) of preschoolers and compare it with the one reported by their parents. A total of 48 preschoolers participated (Mage = 5 years, SD = 0.5), 21 boys, 27 girls, and their parents (47 fathers and 48 mothers). The children were weighed and measured, also they answered the instrument Seven Figures of Collins (SFC) and seven questions about food, beauty and health. The parents answered the Body Image Questionnaire (BSQ), the Stunkard Figures, as well as the SFCs to identify the real (RF) and ideal figure (IF) of their children. When children described themselves, they mostly referred the normal figure, coinciding with their parents. A very small proportion of preschoolers perceived themselves with obesity (around 29-30%); while any parent identified their children with obesity. The 50% of preschoolers chose thinner silhouettes than their body mass index (BMI), but not emaciated. For RF, most parents chose normal weight for boys and light overweight for girls; for IF parents chose, for both sexes, the one with light overweight. In conclusion, the preschool BP disagreed between reality and perception, regardless of their BMI and gender. The parents also did not have an adequate BP for their children.

Keywords : Body image; Body dissatisfaction; Preschoolers; Body weight; Children.

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