Body image and the pre-pubescent child

Abstract

Historically the development of body image concepts and associated ‘perceived body image dissatisfaction’ (PBID) has been considered a construction that occurs at puberty. In this paper we present an overview of issues pertinent to PBID and an analysis of eight interviews. These interviews were conducted with girls aged between five and seven years and support a growing body of evidence that suggests body image and PBID occur much earlier in the developmental stages of girls than puberty. The qualitative paradigm used in this research identifies similarities with recent research on body image and young girls. Using inductive analysis of these interviews and other research, we present a hypothesis that may help to explain why significant body image concepts appear to occur during this developmental period.