CHILDRENS PERCEPTIONS OF THEIR CURRENT AND IDEAL BODY SIZES AND BODY-MASS INDEX

244 Australian schoolchildren aged between 8 and 12 pears indicated th eir current and ideal body sizes by means of Collins' pictorial figure s. Children's height and weight were also measured. Body-mass indices were calculated from these data, and percentile ranks estimated accord ing to international reference data. Consistent with Collins' findings , 39% of girls and 26% of boys wanted to be thinner than they perceive d themselves to be; however, this desire was strongly related to actua l body size so the percentages were very different for weight categori es established on the basis of Body Mass Index. In the overweight quar tile, 76% of girls and 56% of boys wanted to be thinner, whereas in th e underweight quartile only 10% of girls and no boys wanted to be thin ner. The response of overweight children may be sensible, but the desi re of some underweight girls to be even thinner is of concern. Some re cent literature suggests that underweight individuals tend to overesti mate their body sizes. About a half of our underweight children slight ly overestimated their body sizes but only one child overestimated gro ssly.