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Abnormal body weight and food-related behavior in school-aged children as measured by the Children's Binge Eating Disorder Scale.

Author
Abstract
:

Obesity in children is becoming a global epidemic. Health and emotional consequences can threaten life and health both during childhood and adulthood. In this study, we aimed to assess the coexistence of overweight and obesity, binge eating disorder and detrimental attitudes toward nutrition among school-age children. We also aimed to determine the usefulness of the Children's Binge Eating Disorder Scale (C-BEDS) as a screening tool. We examined a group of over 550 healthy children aged 6-12. In all, 15% were overweight, and 6% were obese. A total of 12% of the children presented an increased risk of eating disorders. The examined group of children significantly differed in the number of positive C-BEDS responses compared with the authors of the test. Test reliability as measured by the Cronbach's alpha coefficient was .008. Preliminary results indicate that the problem of excessive body weight affects every fifth child, consistent with previous reports. The C-BEDS used in this study did not permit the identification of children, neither with the risk of Binge Eating Disorder (BED) nor subthreshold BED. This may be due to the relatively low internal consistency of the questions contained in the scale.

Year of Publication
:
2020
Journal
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Clinical child psychology and psychiatry
Volume
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25
Issue
:
2
Number of Pages
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304-319
ISSN Number
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1359-1045
URL
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http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1359104519871335?url_ver=Z39.88-2003&rfr_id=ori:rid:crossref.org&rfr_dat=cr_pub%3dpubmed
DOI
:
10.1177/1359104519871335
Short Title
:
Clin Child Psychol Psychiatry
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