Abstract
This study aimed to provide data concerning the validity of a short sequence of face valid pictorial stimuli assessing the perception of body size in school-age children. A sequence of gender and age-appropriate silhouettes was administered to 314 boys and girls aged 6–14 years. The self-evaluations provided by the children correlated significantly with their actual BMI corrected for age. Furthermore, the children’s self-evaluations always significantly correlated with the evaluations provided by the three external observers; i.e., both parents and the interviewers. The results indicate that this sequence of pictorial stimuli, depicting realistic human forms appropriate for children, is a valid measure of children’s body image. Relevant differences across age groups were also found, indicating that before the age of eight, the correlations between the children’s self-evaluations and their BMI or the judgments of the three observers are lower than in the other age groups.
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Lombardo, C., Battagliese, G., Pezzuti, L. et al. Validity of a figure rating scale assessing body size perception in school-age children. Eat Weight Disord 19, 329–336 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40519-013-0085-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40519-013-0085-0