Abstract
As children's apparel industry expands, there are many researches on purchasing and wearing children's clothing and optimal sizes, but researches on purchasing and wearing children's clothing and the appropriateness of sizes comparing average body shape and obese children are still inadequate. Therefore, in this research Late Elementary Schoolgirls ranging in age from 12 to 13 are categorized into the average or the obese body type, and by comparing and analyzing purchasing and wearing children's clothing and the appropriateness of its sizes between these groups, the problems in the size system of children's apparel are realized and the basic information about designing children's clothing for average body shape and non-average body shape(out-size)children are presented. The survey questions were composed of topics about general personal information, the purchasing practice and wearing practice, the appropriateness of its size when wearing children's clothing and the practice of mending apparel according to the satisfaction level of children's clothing sizes. Because subjects are often too big to wear children's clothing, and in the case of obese children the deviation of a body type is amplified, therefore in buying and wearing children's clothing, they demonstrate different forms of purchasing and wearing characteristics than adults. Considering the practice of increasing obesity in children due to westernized eating habits and decreased physical activities, along with developing programs for improving obesity, the development of an optimal size system in response to various body types will become an important challenge.
