About the project

Eating disorders are a complex and persistent mental health challenge, with a large impact on both psychological and physical wellbeing. Rates of eating disorder diagnoses are on the rise globally and in New Zealand, especially amongst children. Poor body image is a well-established risk factor for the development and maintenance of clinical eating disorders as well as negative health outcomes. Body image is a multi-faceted concept, which begins to form in childhood, and is influenced by internal and external forces. There is currently a gap in the literature regarding the development of body image dissatisfaction in children, particularly within New Zealand. Research is also notably lacking the inclusion of males, LGBTQ+ populations and non-European ethnicities.

The proposed study seeks to investigate body image dissatisfaction (BID) and engagement in disordered eating in Aotearoa/New Zealand children at ages 8 and 12. Longitudinal cohort data from Growing Up in New Zealand will be used to perform a linear regresion analsysis of any relationship between these outcomes and how they change over time. A range of health, social and developmental variables will be analysed as potential predictors across the two ages. Demographic data will also be used to highlight any significant differences between groups, particularly that are underrepresented in the literature, such as diverse gender identities and ethnicities.

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Start date: 27/02/2024