The Health of Middle School Students in France/2014. French Data from the International Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) Survey. Body Image, Body Weight, and Puberty

Key findings: Students’ perceptions of their bodies and their dieting habits differ significantly between girls and boys, with girls more often perceiving themselves as too fat (35.4% of girls vs. 20.9% of boys) and boys more often perceiving themselves as too thin (15.8% of boys vs. 11.3% of girls). As students progress through school, girls become less and less satisfied with their weight; the opposite effect is observed for body weight, with girls more often falling below the IOTF thinness threshold of 18.5 (20.0% of girls vs. 15.6% of boys), and boys more often being overweight (13.2% of boys vs. 9.9% of girls, p-value = 0.003); although body image, dieting, and body weight correlate relatively well with one another, 35.5% of girls of normal weight consider themselves slightly or much too heavy; the onset of menarche occurred earlier overall among middle school girls in 2014 than in 2010 (12.2 years in 2014 vs. a median of 12.4 years in 2010); body image, dieting practices, and body weight did not change significantly between 2010 and 2014.

Author(s): Ehlinger Virginie, Godeau Emmanuelle, Nugier Angélique

Publishing year: 2016

Pages: 8 p.

Format/Duration: 15.5 x 23.5 cm

Ref: W-0135-001-1601

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