BODY IMAGE, PERCEIVED PHYSICAL ABILITY, AND MOTOR PERFORMANCE IN NONOVERWEIGHT AND OVERWEIGHT ITALIAN CHILDREN

The purpose was to examine body image, perceived physical ability, and motor performance in nonoverweight (n = 105, 53 boys and 52 girls) and overweight (n = 105, 52 boys and 53 girls) children, ranging in age from 8 to 10 years and attending elementary schools in southeastern Italy. Body image was measured on Collins' Child Figure Drawings, while self-efficacy was assessed by the Perceived Physical Ability Scale for Children. Age-appropriate field-based tests of standing long jump, 1-kg medicine-ball throw, basketball throw. and 10-m and 20-m sprint from a standing position were also administered to gauge motor performance. Univariate analyses of variance [2 (group)x2 (sex)x3 (8, 9. 10 yr.)] showed that overweight children reported larger body-dissatisfaction scores, lower self-efficacy scores, and poorer performance oil weight-bearing tasks than nonoverweight peers. In addition, boys had higher mean scores on physical self-efficacy and better performance on all motor tests. The correlation between Body Mass Index and body dissatisfaction was positive for boys and girls.