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Yoga is an embodying activity that promotes body awareness, body connection, body responsiveness, and appreciation of body functionality, and it therefore may be a beneficial school-based intervention for children's body image. The present study examined the impact of a 4-week yoga intervention on pre-adolescent girls' and boys' body image (body appreciation, body esteem, and body surveillance) and mood (positive and negative affect) 1-week post-intervention and at 6-week follow-up. British children (N = 344; 54.4% female) aged 9-11 years were recruited from four schools, two of which were randomly assigned to the yoga intervention and two to a physical education control condition. Overall, girls reported greater body image concern and negative mood than boys. Unexpectedly, both groups reported increased body appreciation, body esteem, and positive mood, and decreased body surveillance and negative affect from baseline to post-intervention and/or follow-up. Both girls and boys in the yoga intervention evaluated the sessions very favourably; the majority desired to participate in more lessons. Potential explanations for these findings are discussed., (Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Positive body image among adults is related to numerous indicators of well-being. However, no research has explored body appreciation among children. To facilitate our understanding of children's positive body image, the current study adapts and validates the Body Appreciation Scale-2 (BAS-2; Tylka & Wood-Barcalow, 2015a) for use with children. Three hundred and forty-four children (54.4% girls) aged 9-11 completed the adapted Body Appreciation Scale-2 for Children (BAS-2C) alongside measures of body esteem, media influence, body surveillance, mood, and dieting. A sub-sample of 154 participants (62.3% girls) completed the questionnaire 6-weeks later to examine stability (test-retest) reliability. The BAS-2C displayed a unidimensional factor structure and evidence of internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and construct, criterion-related, and incremental validity. Additionally, the results suggest adaptive properties of body appreciation for body-related and emotional well-being among children. The BAS-2C could serve as an essential component within research to understand and estimate children's positive body image., (Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Dissonance-based body image interventions are among the most effective interventions for adolescent girls. However, dissemination of these interventions remains challenging. In addition, the emerging field of positive body image suggests that interventions should promote body appreciation as well as reduce pathology. The current study examines whether undergraduate students can effectively deliver a dissonance-based intervention to secondary school girls. In addition, it examines whether this intervention can increase body appreciation. Sixty-two adolescent girls were randomly allocated to the intervention or control condition. In the intervention group, body dissatisfaction was significantly reduced and body appreciation was significantly improved from pre- to post-intervention. There were no changes in body dissatisfaction or body appreciation in the control group. There was a reduction in thin-ideal internalization for all participants. These preliminary findings suggest that undergraduate students can be effective interventionists for dissonance-based programs in schools and dissonance-based interventions can promote body appreciation., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)