CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 1,139Obesity, Physical Activity, DietObesity and Health PracticesEating Disorders and Behaviors

Childhood Obesity and Self-Esteem

Strauss, Richard S.·2000·PEDIATRICS
DOI 10.1542/peds.105.1.e15
Open this paper in CoChat — free account

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Although childhood obesity may have detrimental consequences for childhood self-esteem, the prevalence and magnitude of this problem is controversial. In addition, the social and emotional effects of decreased self-esteem in obese children are unknown. METHODS: A total of 1520 children, 9 to 10 years of age, born to mothers in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth were studied. Comprehensive demographic data including race and family income were available in 97% of the cohort. Self-esteem was measured using Self-Perception Profile for Children. The 4-year follow-up Self-Perception Profile for Children scores were available in 79% of the children. Obesity was defined as a body mass index greater than the 95th percentile for age and gender. Additional data include a self-administered questionnaire at 13 to 14 years of age concerning emotional well being, smoking, and alcohol consumption. Data were stratified by race and gender. The data were weighted to reflect a nationally representative sample of children born to mothers 17 to 28 years of age. RESULTS: Scholastic and global self-esteem scores were not significantly different among 9- to 10-year-old obese and nonobese children. However, over the 4-year period, obese Hispanic females and obese white females showed significantly decreased levels of global self-esteem compared with nonobese Hispanic females and nonobese white females, respectively. Mild decreases in self-esteem also were observed in obese boys compared with nonobese boys. As a result, by 13 to 14 years of age, significantly lower levels of self-esteem were observed in obese boys, obese Hispanic girls, and obese white girls compared with their nonobese counterparts. Decreasing levels of self-esteem in obese children were associated with significantly increased rates of sadness, loneliness, and nervousness compared with obese children whose self-esteem increased or remained unchanged. In addition, obese children with decreasing levels of self-esteem over the 4-year period were more likely to smoke and drink alcohol compared with obese children whose self-esteem increased or remained unchanged. CONCLUSIONS: Obese Hispanic and white females demonstrate significantly lower levels of self-esteem by early adolescence. In addition, obese children with decreasing levels of self-esteem demonstrate significantly higher rates of sadness, loneliness, and nervousness and are more likely to engage in high-risk behaviors such as smoking or consuming alcohol.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1542/peds.105.1.e15

Cites

35 of 35 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Recomputing p-values needs the paper’s full text.

Claims the paper makes

This paper’s full text isn’t openly available, so its claims and self-check weren’t run. The registry and citation checks still apply.

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Related

Authors
Strauss, R. S.
Affiliations
University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (US)
Corresponding author
Strauss, Richard S.
ORCID
Strauss, Richard S.
Venue
PEDIATRICS
Publisher
American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)
Published
2000-01-01
Volume
105
Issue
1
Pages
e15-e15
ISSN
  • 0031-4005 (ISSN-L)
  • 1098-4275
DOI
10.1542/peds.105.1.e15
OpenAlex
W2170343311
Cited by
1,139
References
35
Citations by year
2026: 8 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 24 · 2023: 18 · 2022: 16 · 2021: 24 · 2020: 33 · 2019: 67 · 2018: 39 · 2017: 44 · 2016: 54 · 2015: 48 · 2014: 71 · 2013: 67 · 2012: 85
FWCI
17.58
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • PEDIATRICS (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Obesity, Physical Activity, Diet
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › Pharmacy › Obesity and Health Practices
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Eating Disorders and Behaviors
Keywords
childhood obesity, self-esteem, emotional well-being, Hispanic children, adolescent girls, sadness, loneliness, anxiety, smoking, alcohol consumption, high-risk behaviors, race and gender differences, longitudinal cohort
MeSH terms
Adolescent, Psychology, Adolescent, Black or African American, Child, Psychology, Child, Female, Hispanic or Latino, Humans, Longitudinal Studies, Male, Obesity, Self Concept, Sex Factors, United States, White People

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review