{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,27]],"date-time":"2026-05-27T08:07:35Z","timestamp":1779869255238,"version":"3.53.1"},"update-to":[{"DOI":"10.12688\/f1000research.156811.1","type":"new_version","label":"New version","source":"publisher","updated":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,5]],"date-time":"2026-05-05T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1777939200000}},{"DOI":"10.12688\/f1000research.156811.2","type":"new_version","label":"New version","source":"publisher","updated":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,5]],"date-time":"2026-05-05T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1777939200000}}],"reference-count":41,"publisher":"F1000 Research Ltd","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,5]],"date-time":"2026-05-05T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1777939200000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["f1000research.com"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["F1000Res"],"abstract":"<ns3:p>Background Anxiety and obesity can have negative impacts on the health of children. Understanding the relationship between obesity and mental disorders in children and adolescents will help develop effective prevention and intervention strategies. Objectives The main aim is to examine the relationship between anxiety-related emotional disorders, self-esteem, and BMI (obesity) among children, as well as determined the role of anxiety-related emotional disorders and self-esteem in predicting childhood obesity in China. Methods Utilizing a non-experimental, cross-sectional study design, data were from 136 participants collected through standardized instrument measures from Chinese children: the \u201cChinese screening for overweight and obesity among school-age children and adolescents\u201d in the \u201cHealth Industry Standards of the People\u2019s Republic of China\u201d as the standard for identifying obesity, the Screen for Anxiety-Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED) for assessing anxiety disorder, and the Children\u2019s Self-Esteem Scale (CSES) for evaluating self-esteem. Statistical analysis, including descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation analysis, and multiple regression analyses was performed using SPSS version 26 to determine the predictive relationships between the variables. Results Specific anxiety-related emotional disorders\u2014particularly panic disorder and separation anxiety disorder\u2014significantly predicted higher BMI in Chinese children, while generalized anxiety disorder and school avoidance were associated with lower BMI. Self-esteem, contrary to expectations, did not significantly predict obesity. Conclusion This study emphasises the necessity of including early psychological screen in childhood obesity prevention, particularly for anxiety symptoms. The findings have practical consequences for schools, doctors, and public health officials. Further research is needed to better understand the mental-physical health relationship in children.<\/ns3:p>","DOI":"10.12688\/f1000research.156811.3","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,5]],"date-time":"2026-05-05T09:19:07Z","timestamp":1777972747000},"page":"84","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.12688\/f1000research.crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["The influence of anxiety-related emotional disorders and self-esteem on obesity among Chinese children"],"prefix":"10.12688","volume":"14","author":[{"given":"Xin","family":"Shi","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Psychology Kuala Lumpur Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur 56000 UCSI University"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7131-1207","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Saeid","family":"Motevalli","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Psychology Kuala Lumpur Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur 56000 UCSI University"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Elaine Jing Ying","family":"Chang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Psychology Kuala Lumpur Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur 56000 UCSI University"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yifei","family":"Pan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Psychology Kuala Lumpur Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur 56000 UCSI University"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0002-5850-0828","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jing","family":"Sun","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Education Department, Faculty of Social Sciences and Liberal Arts Kuala Lumpur Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur 56000 UCSI University"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"2560","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,5]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","article-title":"Obesity: preventing and managing the global epidemic: report of a WHO consultation.","year":"2000"},{"key":"ref2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"483-524","DOI":"10.1016\/j.psc.2009.06.002","article-title":"Anxiety and anxiety disorders in children and adolescents: developmental issues and implications for DSM-V.","volume":"32","author":"K Beesdo","year":"2009","journal-title":"Psychiatr. 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We have made several revisions to address your concerns and improve the manuscript.  To begin, we have included research objectives at abstract part and the end of introduction part, providing a clear roadmap for the study that was previously missing. Regarding the sample size, we have provided a detailed rationale for the 136 participants, explaining how the size was determined using G*Power analysis to ensure adequate statistical power and representativeness for children in Hefei, Anhui Province.  We have expanded the discussion on the limitations of the cross-sectional design, addressing potential confounding variables and the need for longitudinal or experimental designs in future studies.  Additionally, the reliability of the anxiety scale is acceptable mentioned in realiability part, and we acknowledge the limitations of self-reported data, suggesting more objective measures in future research.  In response to your request, we have clarified the statistical analyses to improve transparency. The Discussion now includes a more critical comparison with existing literature, addressing inconsistencies and practical significance of the results.  We have also provided more detailed ethical considerations, explaining how confidentiality, anonymity, and informed consent were ensured.  Moreover, some content of limitations were changed, followed by recommendations accordingly added. Also, an implementation section was added to the article.  Finally, the Conclusion has been revised to better summarize the study\u2019s key findings and their practical implications for clinical practice and policy.  These revisions strengthen the manuscript and we hope they address your concerns. Thank you again for your valuable feedback.","URL":"https:\/\/f1000research.com\/articles\/14-84\/v3#referee-comment-14190","order":1,"name":"referee-comment-14190","label":"Referee Comment","group":{"name":"article-reports","label":"Article Reports"}},{"value":"10.5256\/f1000research.200432.r481764, Mahmoud Danaee, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, 13 May 2026, version 3, indexed","URL":"https:\/\/f1000research.com\/articles\/14-84\/v3#referee-response-481764","order":2,"name":"referee-response-481764","label":"Referee Report","group":{"name":"article-reports","label":"Article Reports"}},{"value":"10.5256\/f1000research.200432.r485809, Tatiana Palotta Minari, Federal University of S\u00e3o Paulo (UNIFESP), Santos, 22 May 2026, version 3, indexed","URL":"https:\/\/f1000research.com\/articles\/14-84\/v3#referee-response-485809","order":3,"name":"referee-response-485809","label":"Referee Report","group":{"name":"article-reports","label":"Article Reports"}},{"value":"The author(s) declared that no grants were involved in supporting this work","order":4,"name":"grant-information","label":"Grant Information"},{"value":"This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licence, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.","order":0,"name":"copyright-info","label":"Copyright"}]}}