Childhood obesity, gender, actual-ideal body image discrepancies, and physical self-concept in Hong Kong children: cultural differences in the value of moderation.

Childhood obesity is increasingly prevalent in Western and non-Western societies. The authors related multiple dimensions of physical self-concept to body composition for 763 Chinese children aged 8 to 15 and compared the results with Western research. Compared with Western research, gender differences favoring boys were generally much smaller for physical self-concept and body image. Objective and subjective indexes of body fat were negatively related to many components of physical self-concept, but--in contrast to Western research--were unrelated to global self-esteem and slightly positively related to health self-concept. In support of discrepancy theory, actual-ideal discrepancies in body image were related to physical self-concept. However, consistent with the Chinese cultural value of moderation, and in contrast to Western results, being too thin relative to personal ideals was almost as detrimental as being too fat. The results reflect stronger Chinese cultural values of moderation and acceptance of obesity than in Western culture and have implications for social and educational policy in China.

[1]  S. Mangelsdorf,et al.  The Emotional Basis of Early Personality Development: Implications for the Emergent Self-Concept , 1997 .

[2]  C. Markey,et al.  A longitudinal examination of patterns in girls' weight concerns and body dissatisfaction from ages 5 to 9 years. , 2003, The International journal of eating disorders.

[3]  Herbert W. Marsh,et al.  Academic Self-Concept , 2022, Handbook of Positive Psychology in Schools.

[4]  Jacquelynne S. Eccles,et al.  Development of achievement motivation. , 2007 .

[5]  H. Marsh.  Construct validity of physical self-description questionnaire responses: relations to external criteria. , 1996 .

[6]  H. Marsh,et al.  Construct Validation of Hebrew Versions of Three Physical Self-Concept Measures: An Extended Multitrait-Multimethod Analysis , 2006 .

[7]  John A. Johnson,et al.  Handbook of personality psychology. , 1997 .

[8]  H W Marsh,et al.  The multidimensional structure of physical fitness: invariance over gender and age. , 1993, Research quarterly for exercise and sport.

[9]  R. Nisbett,et al.  Culture, dialectics, and reasoning about contradiction. , 1999 .

[10]  S. West,et al.  Multiple Regression: Testing and Interpreting Interactions. , 1994 .

[11]  Phyllis C. Blumenfeld,et al.  Change in Children's Competence Beliefs and Subjective Task Values across the Elementary School Years: A 3-Year Study. , 1997 .

[12]  L. Ricciardelli,et al.  A longitudinal study of body image and strategies to lose weight and increase muscles among children , 2005 .

[13]  H. Marsh.  Academic self-concept: Theory, measurement, and research. , 1993 .

[14]  R. J. Sonstroem.  The physical self-system: A mediator of exercise and self-esteem. , 1997 .

[15]  H. Marsh,et al.  Self-belief does make a difference: A reciprocal effects model of the causal ordering of physical self-concept and gymnastics performance , 2006, Journal of sports sciences.

[16]  J. Rodin,et al.  Behavioral and psychological implications of body dissatisfaction: Do men and women differ? , 1988 .

[17]  H. Marsh,et al.  The Pivotal Role of Frames of Reference in Academic Self-Concept Formation: The "Big Fish-Little Pond" Effect. , 2002 .

[18]  L. Hui,et al.  Risk factors for childhood overweight in 6- to 7-y-old Hong Kong children , 2003, International Journal of Obesity.

[19]  Gary D. Phye,et al.  Handbook of Classroom Assessment: Learning, Achievement, and Adjustment , 1996 .

[20]  I. Sigel,et al.  HANDBOOK OF CHILD PSYCHOLOGY , 2006 .

[21]  T. Cole,et al.  Establishing a standard definition for child overweight and obesity worldwide: international survey , 2000, BMJ : British Medical Journal.

[22]  V. Gecas,et al.  The Self-Concept , 1982 .

[23]  M. Tiggemann,et al.  Body image across the life span in adult women: the role of self-objectification. , 2001, Developmental psychology.

[24]  H. Marsh,et al.  Longitudinal multilevel models of the big-fish-little-pond effect on academic self-concept: counterbalancing contrast and reflected-glory effects in Hong Kong schools. , 2000, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[25]  P. Bush,et al.  Obesity, Self-Esteem, and Health Locus of Control in Black Youths during Transition to Adolescence , 1990, American journal of health promotion : AJHP.

[26]  B. Bracken.  Handbook of self-concept: Developmental, social, and clinical considerations. , 1996 .

[27]  A. Greenwald,et al.  Psychological perspectives on the self , 1982 .

[28]  G. Marwell,et al.  Self-esteem : its conceptualization and measurement , 1976 .

[29]  D. Gill.  Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology , 1987 .

[30]  J. Wardle,et al.  Cause and effect beliefs and self-esteem of overweight children. , 1997, Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines.

[31]  C. Lord,et al.  APPLIED DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY , 1984 .

[32]  H. Marsh,et al.  Predicting self-esteem from perceptions of actual and ideal ratings of body fatness: is there only one ideal "supermodel"? , 1996, Research quarterly for exercise and sport.

[33]  Tim Urdan,et al.  Adolescence and Education , 2002 .

[34]  H. Marsh,et al.  Self-Concept Contributes to Winning Gold Medals: Causal Ordering of Self-Concept and Elite Swimming Performance , 2005 .

[35]  D. Teti,et al.  Handbook of Research Methods in Developmental Science , 2004 .

[36]  W. James,et al.  The Principles of Psychology. , 1983 .

[37]  Michel Boivin,et al.  Academic Self-Concept and Academic Achievement: Developmental Perspectives on Their Causal Ordering. , 2003 .

[38]  E. Higgins,et al.  Self-discrepancy: a theory relating self and affect. , 1987, Psychological review.

[39]  C. Braet,et al.  Psychological aspects of childhood obesity: a controlled study in a clinical and nonclinical sample. , 1997, Journal of pediatric psychology.

[40]  M. Tiggemann.  Body-size dissatisfaction: Individual differences in age and gender, and relationship with self-esteem , 1992 .

[41]  Allan Wigfield,et al.  Risk Taking: Theoretical, Empirical, and Educational Considerations , 1991 .

[42]  T. F. Cash,et al.  How has body image changed? A cross-sectional investigation of college women and men from 1983 to 2001. , 2004, Journal of consulting and clinical psychology.

[43]  W. Swann,et al.  From self-conceptions to self-worth: on the sources and structure of global self-esteem. , 1989, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[44]  J. Eccles,et al.  The Development of Competence Beliefs, Expectancies for Success, and Achievement Values from Childhood through Adolescence , 2002 .

[45]  Alan Feingold,et al.  Gender Differences in Body Image Are Increasing , 1998 .

[46]  Andrew J. Martin,et al.  What is the Nature of Self-Esteem? Unidimensional and Multidimensional Perspectives. , 2006 .

[47]  H. Marsh,et al.  Cross-Cultural Validity of the Physical Self-Description Questionnaire: Comparison of Factor Structures in Australia, Spain, and Turkey , 2002, Research quarterly for exercise and sport.

[48]  H. Marsh.  The measurement of physical self-concept: A construct validation approach. , 1997 .

[49]  B. N. Buswell,et al.  Gender differences in self-esteem: a meta-analysis. , 1999, Psychological bulletin.

[50]  Albert J. Stunkard,et al.  Handbook of Obesity Treatment , 2002 .

[51]  H. Marsh,et al.  Reciprocal Effects of Self-Concept and Performance From a Multidimensional Perspective: Beyond Seductive Pleasure and Unidimensional Perspectives , 2006, Perspectives on psychological science : a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.

[52]  Dhananjoy Shaw,et al.  Sport and exercise psychology , 2016 .

[53]  C. Perry,et al.  Self-esteem and obesity in children and adolescents: a literature review. , 1995, Obesity research.

[54]  K. Bush.  Commentary: Physical and Mental Health of Contemporary Chinese Children , 2003 .

[55]  S. Lee,et al.  Disordered eating in three communities of China: a comparative study of female high school students in hong kong, Shenzhen, and rural hunan. , 2000, The International journal of eating disorders.

[56]  L. Birch,et al.  Processes linking weight status and self-concept among girls from ages 5 to 7 years. , 2002, Developmental psychology.

[57]  Christian S. Crandall,et al.  Do Heavy-Weight Students Have more Difficulty Paying for College? , 1991 .

[58]  Kenneth R Fox,et al.  The physical self: From motivation to well-being , 1997 .

[59]  H. Marsh.  Relations between global and specific domains of self: The importance of individual importance, certainty, and ideals. , 1993 .

[60]  H. Marsh.  A multidimensional physical self-concept: A construct validity approach to theory, measurement and research. , 2002 .

[61]  H. Marsh,et al.  Causal ordering of physical self-concept and exercise behavior: reciprocal effects model and the influence of physical education teachers. , 2006, Health psychology : official journal of the Division of Health Psychology, American Psychological Association.

[62]  Charles B. Corbin,et al.  The Physical Self-Perception Profile: Development and preliminary validation , 1989 .

[63]  H. Marsh,et al.  Structure, stability, and development of young children's self-concepts: a multicohort-multioccasion study. , 1998, Child development.

[64]  Sing Lee,et al.  Fat phobic and non-fat phobic anorexia nervosa: a comparative study of 70 Chinese patients in Hong Kong , 1993, Psychological Medicine.

[65]  R. Crain.  The influence of age, race, and gender on child and adolescent multidimensional self-concept. , 1996 .

[66]  E. Skaalvik,et al.  Academic achievement and self-concept: An analysis of causal predominance in a developmental perspective. , 1990 .

[67]  Jianping Wang,et al.  Psychometric properties and normative data of the Eating Disorder Inventory among 12 to 18 year old Chinese girls in Hong Kong. , 2004, Journal of psychosomatic research.

[68]  H. Marsh,et al.  Validating young children's self-concept responses : methodological ways and means to understand their responses , 2008 .

[69]  Stephanie T. Lanza,et al.  Changes in children's self-competence and values: gender and domain differences across grades one through twelve. , 2002, Child development.

[70]  C. Nishida,et al.  Appropriate body-mass index for Asian populations and its implications for policy and intervention strategies , 2004, The Lancet.

[71]  Murray Drummond,et al.  Interviewing, and listening to the voices of, very young children on body image and perceptions of self , 2005 .

[72]  C. Hallinan,et al.  Perceptions of Current and Ideal Body Shape of Athletes and Nonathletes , 1991, Perceptual and motor skills.

[73]  S. Harter,et al.  Development perspectives on the self-system , 1983 .

[74]  Herbert W. Marsh,et al.  Age and sex effects in multiple dimensions of self-concept: Preadolescence to early adulthood. , 1989 .

[75]  H. Marsh,et al.  Physical Self Description Questionnaire: stability and discriminant validity. , 1996, Research quarterly for exercise and sport.

[76]  S. Kety,et al.  Genetics of Neurological and Psychiatric Disorders , 1982 .

[77]  B. Byrne.  Measuring Self-Concept Across the Life Span: Issues and Instrumentation , 1996 .

[78]  Patsy Tremayne,et al.  Physical Self-Description Questionnaire: Psychometric properties and a multitrait-multimethod analysis of relations to existing instruments. , 1994 .

[79]  B. Popkin,et al.  The nutritional status and dietary pattern of Chinese adolescents, 1991 and 1993 , 1998, European Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

[80]  H. Marsh.  Cognitive discrepancy models: Actual, ideal, potential, and future self-perspectives of body image. , 1999 .

[81]  Keith P. Sentis,et al.  Thinking Fat: Self‐Schemas for Body Weight and the Processing of Weight Relevant Information1 , 1987 .