Dieting concerns of 10‐year‐old girls and their mothers

Abstract

The responses of a group of 10-year-old girls on a dietary restraint questionnaire described a wide range of dieting concerns. Subgroups of highly restrained and low-restrained girls were identified and their mothers interviewed. A strong relationship (r = .68) was found between the degree of dietary restraint expressed by the girls and their mothers. The highly restrained girls had a significantly higher EAT score than the low-restrained girls, and shared with their mothers a susceptibility to the disinhibitory effects of negative mood states on their eating behaviour.