Korean Journal of Community Nutrition

Original Articles

[English]
Changes of Obesity Indices, Body Satisfaction and Self-Esteem of Obese Children on Weight Control Program: Kyung Hee Kim; Korean J Community Nutr 2007;12(4):449-461. Published online August 31, 2007

Abstract PDF: This study was conducted to investigate the changes of physical and psychological factors of obese children, obesity indices and blood serum levels, food habits and body and self-esteem after a weight control program. The results from this study were as follows: Participants of the study involved 20 boys (48.8%) and 21 girls (51.2%) totaling 41 children. Children's weight control experiences were 90.2% and parents' were 59.5%. Among methods of weight control, children and parents both used exercise and reduced amounts of meals. Sixty-one percent of the children had breakfast almost everyday. The reasons of skipping breakfast were having no time to eat by 44.4% and 50% of children watched TV while having a meal and they considered taste (55.3%) and nutrition value (21.1%) when choosing food. After the weight control program, the children's body fat percent (%) significantly decreased from 40.3% to 35.4% (p < 0.01). There was significant difference of boys and girls' hip circumferences (92.9 cm, 91.4 cm, p < 0.01) after the program but there was only a slight change in their WHR (0.91, 0.92). Girls' waist circumferences significantly decreased from 75.0 cm to 73.0 cm (p < 0.05) and there was a significant increase in HDL-cholesterol, 50.0 (mg/dL) to 55.2 (mg/dL), (p < 0.05). Knowledge levels of obesity significantly increased from 2.5 to 5.1 in the girls' cases (p < 0.001). Nonetheless, attitudes of weight control and food habits score had not changed a lot. After the program, both the boys and girls' body-esteem had significantly increased (p < 0.01) but self-esteem had not changed. These results suggest that a body weight control program must be included in nutrition education, exercise and psychotherapy to improve body and self-esteem of obese children.

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[English]
Comparison of Weight Control Behavior and Self-esteem between Healthy Weight and Obese Children: Seolhyang Baek, Junghee Yeo; Korean J Community Nutr 2006;11(5):562-574. Published online October 31, 2006

Abstract PDF: The study compared eating and physical activity related behaviors and self-esteem between healthy weight and obese children by presenting 175 primary school students in Busan City and Gyeongsang province with a self-reported questionnaire and Coopersmith's self-esteem inventory. The questionnaire was composed of 25 items, weighted primarily by a Likert scale. The self-esteem inventory presented to the students comprised 25 "Yes" or "No" response questions to different statements. The study found obese children were more likely to think they always had to control their weight (p = 0.000), reportedly measuring their weights significantly more than the healthy weight children. Also the study found that obese children are significantly more likely than healthy weight children to go on a diet, however neither group were successful in losing weight as the duration of the diet in 79.5% of the total sample lasted no longer than one week. In comparison to healthy weight children, obese children reported that they consumed fewer snacks during the day, avoided snacking subsequent to an evening meal and exercised more frequently for as long as physically possible. Interestingly, we found no difference of reported self-esteem between groups, though the obese group were more likely to answer that their parents did not understand them (p = 0.055). Based on these findings, we concluded that the obese children who participated in the study were more aware of their body weights than the healthy weights children. It may be necessary to investigate further the relationship between self-esteem and participants' weights while considering other variables such as personality and body image.

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[English]
The Factors Associated with Weight Control Experiences among Adolescents: Based on Self-esteem, Body-cathexis, Attitudes toward the Body, Anthropometric Characteristics and Perceptions of Body Shape: Eun Sil Her, Hyun Jin Kang, Kyung Hea Lee; Korean J Community Nutr 2003;8(5):658-666. Published online October 31, 2003

Abstract PDF: This study was carried out to investigate among adolescents (total = 729) the relationship between their self-esteem, body-cathexis, their attitudes toward the importance of their bodies, their anthropometric characteristics, their perceptions of their body shapes and their experiences with weight control. The results are summarized as follows: The mean values for self-esteem and body-cathexis were generally low, but these values were significantly higher among boys than girls (p < 0.01 - 0.001). However the mean values for their attitudes toward the importance of their bodies were relatively high and were significantly higher among girls than boys (p < 0.01). The mean values for Percent Ideal Body Weight (PIBW) and Body Mass Index (BMI) were normal and no significant differences between the genders were observed. The distribution of the PIBW and the BMI values showed a higher rate for normal weights among the girlsand a higher rate for underweightedness and obesity among the boys (p < 0.01). With regard to their perception of their body image, among the boys, their current figures were almost identical with their idea of an ideal figure, but among the girls, their idea of an ideal figure was thinner than their current figure. The girls were more dissatisfied with their own body image than the boys (p < 0.001). Fifty-four percent of the subjects had previous weight control experience, and the girls had significantly more experience than the boys (p < 0.001). Their main reason for practising weight control was to lose weight (65.3%). Those who had more weight control experience had lower satisfaction with their body shapes, higher PIBW, higher BMIs or currently had fatter figures. Their standard image of their figures was influenced by TV (40.3%) and friends (36.9%). There was a weakly positive correlation between their self-esteem and their satisfaction with their body shapes, and a weakly negative correlation between their satisfaction with their body shapes and their attitudes toward the importance of their bodies. These results suggest the necessity for an educational program for adolescents as to foster a positive body image. Such a program should consider psychological factors such as selfesteem, satisfaction with body shape and attitudes toward the importance of the body

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