babble » blogs » Strollerderby
Strollerderby
They Say: Big Kids Think They’re Skinny
Conventional wisdom states fat kids are uncomfortable in their skin. But new research is positing overweight kids – particularly girls – actually underestimate their weight.
To which we say, have you MET an overweight American girl?
Ah, there’s the rub – the study comes out of the UK, where we’re going to be moving our daughters stat. Because that kind of self esteem in the female kid contingent is the stuff of urban legends.
Published in the Archives of Disease in Childhood this month, the study is focused on almost four hundred kids, both male and female, ages seven through nine. Directed to match their body size to one of seven numbered images – varying in weight – they found the skinner children were more likely to rate themselves at a higher body weight.
The kids who were overweight, however, went in the opposite direction. They equated themselves with some of the smaller bodies, especially the girls.
As a mother of a girl, that sounds good to me. But as a recovering bulimic, it doesn’t sound like anything I ever encountered. Girls in my experience (although I knew a few boys with the problem as well) no matter their weight traditionally describe themselves as heavier than they are.
That the study focuses in on pre-adolescents, surmising they are essentially acting exactly opposite teen and adult women, is troubling to me as a mother because the question is: when does it switch? Based on sheer self esteem value, it seems these mis-perceptions have a positive end despite the fact that they are an underestimation. Sadly, the study doesn’t answer that question.
Are you surprised by the findings?
More by this author:
Go Back To Strollerderby
1 Comment
alison commented on Dec 03 09 at 1:14 pmHowever, the study noted that skinnier children tend to think they are bigger than they are. What does “skinnier” mean? That is extremely consistent with what I have noticed in myself and other people with eating disorders (that we see ourselves as larger than we are).
I seem to recall reading about studies which show obese adults tend to underestimate their weight/BMI/size?
No matter what it means in relation to self-esteem, isn’t the bigger story here that we seem unable to see ourselves as others see us and that this can have negative consequences to our health?
Add your take:
Note: Babble is a supportive, diverse community. We encourage a range of opinions,
but any unduly hostile comments will be removed.
Comments are delayed up to 15 minutes
Joslyn Gray 
Amber Doty 
Julianna Miner 
Monica Bielanko 
Sierra Black 
Meredith Carroll 
Carolyn Castiglia 
Sunny Chanel 
Madeline Holler 
Wendy Michaels 
Rebecca Odes 
Danielle Smith 
Danielle Sullivan 
Katherine Stone 
The Walt Disney Company supports Babble as a platform dedicated to honest, engaged, informed, intelligent and open conversation about parenting. However, the opinions expressed on this site are those of individual parents/writers and do not reflect the views of Disney. In addition, content provided on this site is for entertainment or informational purposes only and should not be construed as medical advice, diagnosis, treatment, or safety advice.
1