Issues of self-image among overweight African-American and Caucasian adolescent girls: A qualitative study

This study aimed to gather in-depth descriptions of the experiences of over weight adolescent girls to understand how they view themselves and their so cial context. The study further aimed to compare body and self-image issues among African-American and Caucasian overweight girls. The study populatio n included 50 adolescent girls, aged 14 to 20 years, from junior and senior urban public high schools in St. Paul, MN. Individual interviews, using a semistructured interview guide, were used to gather rich descriptions of ex periences. interviews were taped, transcribed, and coded,Weight issues were central to the manner in which the girls described themselves and their id eal selves. They discussed people-related and clothing-related situations i n which they felt self-conscious due to being overweight. Yet, bring overwe ight was clearly not the only aspect of their lives, and they expressed con cerns common to many adolescents. Both similarities and differences in atti tudes were identified when che African-American and Caucasian girls were co mpared. African-American and Caucasian girls indicated their desire to be t hinner, expressed dissatisfaction with their body shape and body size, and discussed situations in which they felt self-conscious due to their weight. However, the African-American girls were more likely to also discuss the p ositive aspects of their bodies than the Caucasian girls. Furthermore, spec ific situations in which the girls felt selfconscious tended to differ acro ss ethnicity. Health care providers need to take the time to discuss both w eight-related and nonweight-related concerns overweight youth in counseling situations and ask about issues of self-image and social interactions in a n empathetic manner. Furthermore, since many of the negative statements mad e by the girls focused on interactions with others, health care providers a nd educators may want to consider strategies for reaching peers, family mem bers, and others with messages about their potential influence on the overw eight adolescent's development. Implications for research on the psychosoci al consequences of obesity include assessing domain-specific aspects of sel f-image.