Children with autism spectrum disorders appear to be at a higher risk of having obesity than their typically developing peers. Although it has been recommended that healthcare providers speak to children with autism spectrum disorders about the potential health risks of unhealthy weight, no previous research has explored how healthcare providers…

"Weight-related attitudes" refer to negative attitudes toward individuals because they are overweight or obese. These attitudes are widespread among children and adults and have been proven to be recalcitrant to intervention. To develop more effective interventions, it is necessary to understand the origin and development of explicit and…

Schools are places of learning, but they are also sites of struggle when fitness, obesity, and body image issues converge for students and teachers. Responding to teachers' concerns about their students on diets, a Canadian teachers' organization produced a body image program which included a training day for schools undertaking whole-school…

Background: Adolescence may be a crucial period for developing obesity and associated mental health problems. This study examined the relationship of weight status on body image, eating behavior, and depressive symptoms in youth. Methods: A survey was conducted on 1490 youth attending grades 7-12. Participants completed questionnaires on body…

Increasing dropout rates in senior high school physical education, particularly among females, and unhealthy activity and obesity levels in youth have led to recommendations to assess potential contributing factors in physical education participation. Drawing from gender, body image, and social-cognitive theory, this study investigated relations…

Investigated the relationship between ego identity development and obesity in adolescent girls (N=30). Subjects completed the Washington University Sentence Completion Test for ego identity development. Significant differences in scores of ego identity emerged between normal weight subjects and puberty-onset obese subjects and between…

Normal and obese children completed self-esteem and body-esteem questionnaires. Body-esteem was significantly correlated with self-esteem and percentage overweight. Body-esteem and relative weight were correlated; self-esteem and relative weight were not related. The body/self-esteem relation was the same for normal and obese children. (Author/RD)