Childhood Obesity, Gender, Actual-Ideal Body Image Discrepancies, and Physical Self-Concept in Hong Kong Children: Cultural Differences in the Value of Moderation

Autor/inn/en	Marsh, Herbert W.; Hau, K. T.; Sung, R. Y. T.; Yu, C. W.
Titel	Childhood Obesity, Gender, Actual-Ideal Body Image Discrepancies, and Physical Self-Concept in Hong Kong Children: Cultural Differences in the Value of Moderation
Quelle	In: Developmental Psychology, 43 (2007) 3, S.647-662 (16 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0012-1649
Schlagwörter	Foreign Countries; Social Values; Cultural Differences; Obesity; Gender Differences; Educational Policy; Children; Self Concept; Body Composition; Child Health; Comparative Analysis; Self Esteem; Cultural Influences; Social Influences; Western Civilization; China; Hong Kong + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Ausland; Sozialer Wert; Kultureller Unterschied; Adipositas; Geschlechterkonflikt; Politics of education; Bildungspolitik; Child; Kind; Kinder; Selbstkonzept; Self-esteem; Selbstaufmerksamkeit; Cultural influence; Kultureinfluss; Sozialer Einfluss; Hongkong
Abstract	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. (Author).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10