Body esteem and body fat in British school children from different ethnic groups

Michael J Duncan; Yahya Al-Nakeeb; Alan M Nevill

doi:10.1016/j.bodyim.2004.03.002

Body esteem and body fat in British school children from different ethnic groups

Body Image. 2004 Sep;1(3):311-5. doi: 10.1016/j.bodyim.2004.03.002.

Authors

Michael J Duncan¹, Yahya Al-Nakeeb, Alan M Nevill

Affiliation

¹ Department of Physical Education and Sports Studies, Newman College of Higher Education, Birmingham B32 3NT, UK.

PMID: 18089163
DOI: 10.1016/j.bodyim.2004.03.002

Abstract

The aim of the study was to examine the relationship between body esteem and body fat in British school children. Two hundred and seventy seven, 11-14-year-old children from central England took part in the study. Body esteem was measured using the Body Esteem Scale for children and percent body fat was determined by skin-fold measures. Results indicate that body esteem and adiposity were negatively related for the whole sample, for boys and girls and for White children, Black children and Asian children. Factorial ANOVA also indicated differences in body esteem according to gender and ethnicity. Boys and Black children had significantly higher body esteem than girls and Asian children respectively. Differences in body fat were also evident according to gender with boys being leaner than girls. No differences in body esteem or body fat were evident across school years.