DISORDERED EATING PATTERNS, BODY-IMAGE, SELF-ESTEEM, AND PHYSICAL-ACTIVITY IN PREADOLESCENT SCHOOL-CHILDREN

Objective: Eating disorders have been typically defined as an ''adoles cent problem.'' As a result of emerging evidence which indicated this health problem to be evident in the pre-pubescent age range, this stud y aimed to establish prevalence and factors associated with eating/die ting, physical activity, and body image among a nonclinical, naturalis tically-derived sample of preadolescent (aged 10 and 11) school childr en (n = 61). Method: This cohort of children, which represented the en tire grade 6 class of a suburban Elementary school, was measured for b ody image satisfaction [silhouettes], a participation in activity inde x, a self-worth scale and a measure of eating attitudes & behavior [Ea ting and Me scale [E & M]]. Results: The longitudinal assessment of bo dy image [3 measures over 9 months] indicated signs of stability of '' actual'' assessments of body image for males, but marked changes for f emales who preferred to be ideally ''chunkier'' in stature over time. Physical activity was only implicated with bulimia for the male sub-gr oup. The E & M scale reported a Cronbach's alpha of .76, with two fact ors [bulimia; drive for thinness/anorexia] representing 65% of the tot al variance. Moderate internal validity [r .58] between body dissatisf action on the E & M scale and the silhouette measure was observed. Dis cussion: These results demonstrated that body image views and concerns appeared before puberty, that gender differences prevailed with respe ct to eating/dieting, activity and body image, and that the E & M scal e has emerged as a promising research tool. The longitudinal nature of this study of eating disorders also promotes the need for qualitative research methodology and attention to pre-pubertal cognitive/perceptu al processes. (C) 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.