Evaluation of a prevention program to address body focus and negative affect among children.

The current study evaluated a program to improve the body image and positive and negative affect of children. Participants were 368 children aged 8-12 years. The results demonstrated that boys placed more importance on and were less satisfied with their muscles; girls were less satisfied with their weight and the importance of weight increased with increasing age. Children with a large BMI were less satisfied with their weight. Boys in the intervention group showed reduced levels of negative affect over time. Further research is required to develop prevention and intervention programs to lower the effects of body dissatisfaction and negative affect among children.