Treating obesity in children and adolescents improves self-esteem and body image, according to an analysis of all relevant studies published to date. The analysis, which is published in Pediatric Obesity , included 64 studies.
Losing weight appeared important for achieving improvements in body image but not self-esteem.
"Our findings are encouraging as they show that pediatric obesity treatment can improve psychological as well as weight-related outcomes," said lead author Megan Gow, PhD, of the University of Sydney, in Australia.
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Pediatric Obesity