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Self‐esteem in a clinical sample of morbidly obese children and adolescents
Author(s) -
Nowicka P,
Höglund P,
Birgerstam P,
Lissau I,
Pietrobelli A,
Flodmark CE
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
acta pædiatrica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.772
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1651-2227
pISSN - 0803-5253
DOI - 10.1111/j.1651-2227.2008.01061.x
Subject(s) - medicine , obesity , self esteem , body mass index , demography , clinical psychology , sociology
Aim: To study self‐esteem in clinical sample of obese children and adolescents. Methods: Obese children and adolescents aged 8–19 years (n = 107, mean age 13.2 years, mean BMI 32.5 [range 22.3–50.6], mean BMI z‐score 3.22 [range 2.19–4.79]; 50 boys and 57 girls) were referred for treatment of primary obesity. Self‐esteem was measured with a validated psychological test with five subscales: physical characteristics, talents and skills, psychological well‐being, relations with the family and relations with others. A linear mixed effect model used the factors gender and adolescence group, and the continuous covariates: BMI z‐scores, and BMI for the parents as fixed effects and subjects as random effects. Results: Age and gender, but neither the child's BMI z‐score nor the BMI of the parents were significant covariates. Self‐esteem decreased (p < 0.01) with age on the global scale as well as on the subscales, and was below the normal level in higher ages in both genders. Girls had significantly lower self‐esteem on the global scale (p = 0.04) and on the two subscales physical characteristics (p < 0.01) and psychological well‐being (p < 0.01). Conclusion: Self‐esteem is lower in girls and decreases with age. In treatment settings special attention should be paid to adolescent girls.