A prospective study of body image dissatisfaction and BMI change in school children

Abstract

ObjectiveTo examine the associations of body image dissatisfaction (BID) with body mass index (BMI) change in a longitudinal study of school children from Bogotá, Colombia.MethodsWe recruited 630 children 5–12 y‐old from public schools in Bogotá, Colombia and measured their height and weight annually for a median 2.5 y. At recruitment, BID was estimated from children's ratings of Stunkard‐style scales depicting progressively larger body figurines as current minus desired body image. Sex‐specific BMI‐for‐age curves were estimated by baseline BID levels, using mixed effects models with restricted cubic splines.ResultsIn multivariable analyses, thin boys who desired to be thinner gained 4.4 kg/m2 more BMI from ages 6–14 y than boys without BID (P= 0.009). Overweight boys who desired to be larger or thinner gained significantly more BMI than boys with no BID. Thin girls who desired to be larger or thinner gained significantly less BMI than girls with no BID, but overweight girls who desired to be larger gained 4.7 kg/m2 more BMI than girls without BID (P=0.001). BID was not related to BMI change in normal‐weight children.ConclusionsBID plays a sex‐specific role in BMI change among school children.The Bogota School Children Cohort is currently sponsored by the ASISA Research Fund at the University of MichiganGrant Funding Source: The Bogota School Children Cohort is currently sponsored by the ASISA Research Fund at the University of Michigan