The effect of neighborhood and family influences on body image and dietary restraint in pre-adolescent children

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of neighborhood and family influences on body image and dietary attitudes in a cohort of 10-and 11-year old children across the BMI spectrum. In this cross-sectional study, age-appropriate figure drawings, Dietary Restraint and Body Esteem Scales were administered to 554 boys and girls. Information on parent and neighborhood influences were gathered from participants’ parents and tested for association with child variables through multiple linear regression. This study indicates that parent modeling variables have an association with child body esteem and dietary restraint when BMI is controlled. Socioeconomic status was found to play a role, with high socioeconomic neighborhoods resulting in higher body esteem and dietary restraint. Geographic location had no influence over child variables. Overall, important influences were found between parent and socioeconomic status variables and body esteem and restraint.