First do no harm: Measuring weight bias beliefs in preschool-age children

Abstract

Although the importance of investigating the development of weight bias in young children has been documented, little research has examined potential impacts of children's participation in such research. The purpose of the current study was to assess whether participation in research measuring beliefs about body size may engender changes in the development of weight beliefs in young children. Eighty children (44 boys, 36 girls), ages 3-5 (M = 3.73, SD =0.69) participated in tasks assessing weight bias beliefs and perception of their own body size at two time periods (two weeks apart). Participants' responses at Time 2 were also compared to data collected from a similar sample who completed the measures only once. Results demonstrated main effects of gender (girls reporting greater weight bias) and age (older children reporting greater weight bias)) across time points that are consistent with prior research. Importantly, there was no change in participants' responses from Time 1 to Time 2 and no significant differences between Time 2 data and data collected from participants who only completed the measures at one time period, suggesting that participation in such research may not pose undue risks to young children.