The human body provides a medium for man's expression of existence in intellectual, emotional, religious, and social fields. The child starts learning about his body after birth and becomes fully aware of it when he reaches maturity. The fully matured body enables man to carry on dialogue with himself, others and the universe. (PS)

Discusses how differing cognitive style in adolescents relates to their adaptation to pubescent body change. (NH)

Examined factors predicting body change strategies to increase weight and muscle mass among adolescent males over an 8-month period. Results for 435 adolescent boys show that extreme body change strategies are predicted by the adoption of more normative body change strategies at an earlier time, and that body change strategies are affected by…

Pubertal changes in girls and boys are treated differently in New Zealand schools. Girls learn about menstruation in a scientific, bleak manner, getting an unrealistic picture of growing up. Boys receive positive information about exciting, powerful bodily changes. By protecting girls from problems associated with menstruation, schools risk…

Interrelationships of physical self-satisfaction, self-esteem, and identity, and their ability to predict satisfaction with an individual's social milieu were investigated. Prediction patterns yielded no differences between grades 8, 10, and 12. Self-esteem was the best predictor for males; identity and physical self-satisfaction for females.…

Describes the physical and emotional changes of adolescence and suggests ways teachers can help their students cope with these growing pains. (JMB)

The premise that effects of maturational timing are mediated by social context is explored by comparing adolescent girls in dance and nondance schools. The findings are discussed in terms of a goodness of fit between the requirements of a social context and a person's physical and behavioral characteristics. (Author/LMO)

Relationships between biological pubertal events and self-image were studied for 59 healthy adolescent boys in Finland at ages 13 and 14. During the year, self-image increased in four domains, with changes in Impulse Control and Emotional Tone related to pubertal events. Changes in emotional health or sexual attitudes did not correlate with body…

This booklet explores why movement education is important for preschool children, what activities to include in a program, how and where to conduct a program, and criteria that can help to structure the program environment. The first section presents a rationale for the use of movement education for helping preschool children to develop…

The impact of different school environments on the process of incorporating adolescent physical changes into body image is explored using data on 225 White females from a longitudinal study. (Author/LMO)

A significant relationship exists between a person's body concept and his general self-concept. Physical educators need to be more concerned with the development of the body concept in children. Understanding how the growth process affects performance ability can help the teacher plan activities based on individual readiness factors. (JN)

A study explored girls' emerging attitudes toward breast care and breast self-exam (BSE) and the extent to which girls had given thought to these issues. Analyses focused specifically on individual differences related to age, stage of breast development, perceived normalcy of breast development, and body image. The sample consisted of 43 white,…

In this paper the author tries to indicate, through a review of his research, that the scope of the study of body build stereotypes has been broadened to address the larger issues involved in assessing some of the implications of body build stereotypes for the development of body concept and interpersonal relations. Among the topics discussed are:…