ASSESSING THE DETERMINANTS OF DIET IN THE SAYCARE STUDY: REPEATABILITY AND RELIABILITY OF A BODY IMAGE SCALE

• Published in: Annals of nutrition and metabolism 2017-10, Vol.71 (Suppl. 2), p.35
• Main Authors: Restrepo-Mesa, Sandra, González-Zapata, Laura Inés, Aristizabal, Juan, Skapino, Estela, Collese, Tatiana Sadalla, Azzaretti, Leticia, Nascimento-Junior, Walter, Moreno, Luis A, De Moraes, Augusto César Ferreira, Carvalho, Heráclito Barbosa, Estrada-Restrepo, Alejandro
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adequacy; Adolescents; Body height; Body image; Body mass index; Body size; Body weight; Children; Children & youth; Childrens health; Diet; Nutrient deficiency; Obesity; Overweight; Parents; Questionnaires; Reliability analysis; Reproducibility; Self image; Teenagers; Validity
• ISSN: 0250-6807; 1421-9697
• DOI: 10.1159/000480486

Background and objective: In children and adolescents, overweight and obesity are associated with body image dissatisfaction. Low body image may trigger unhealthy behaviors, such as, following a very low energy diet, and doing extreme exercise routines. Given the high prevalence of overweight and obesity in South American youth, this study aimed to evaluate validity and reliability of a body image scale in children and adolescents from the SAYCARE Study. Materials and methods: 228 children (3 to 10 years old) and 142 adolescents (11 to 17 years old) answered the SAYCARE- questionnaire twice, two weeks interval. Children and adolescents body weight and height were measured following standard procedures. Children parents/guardians answered the questions: "Do you think that your son is: Lean, little bit lean, healthy weight, little bit overweight, overweight?". "Choose the figure (13-body image scale developed by Gardner) that best represents your child's physical appearance". Adolescents answered these questions themselves. Repeatability was evaluated between the first and the second response of every child or adolescent. Validity was assessed comparing the answers against the body mass index classification developed by the World Health Organization. Kendall's tau-c coefficient and weighted Kappa statistics were calculated and interpreted according to Landis and Koch. Results: In children, the repeatability to the question "Do you think that your son is? was acceptable (K=0.337) but showed poor validity (k=0.176). For the Gardner scale the repeatability was deficient (K=0.124) with poor validity (K=-0.018). In adolescents, the repeatability to the question "Do you think that your son is? was notable (K=0.709) with acceptable validity (K=0.268). For the Gardner scale the repeatability was notable (K=0.599) but the validity was poor (K=0.023). Conclusions: The questionnaire answered by parents or guardians showed acceptable repeatability but failed to assess child's body weight adequacy. The adolescents questionnaire showed good repeatability and validity to assess physical appearance by using direct questions, but not through the Gardner body image scale.