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Measured body mass index, body weight perception, dissatisfaction and control practices in urban, low-income African American adolescents

BACKGROUND: Current understanding of the associations between actual body weight status, weight perception, body dissatisfaction, and weight control practices among low-income urban African American adolescents is limited. The knowledge can help direct future intervention efforts. METHODS: Cross-sec...

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Autores principales: Wang, Youfa, Liang, Huifang, Chen, Xiaoli
Formato: Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: BioMed Central 2009
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2704208/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19523206
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-9-183
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author Wang, Youfa
Liang, Huifang
Chen, Xiaoli
author_facet Wang, Youfa
Liang, Huifang
Chen, Xiaoli
author_sort Wang, Youfa
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: Current understanding of the associations between actual body weight status, weight perception, body dissatisfaction, and weight control practices among low-income urban African American adolescents is limited. The knowledge can help direct future intervention efforts. METHODS: Cross-sectional data including measured weight and height and self-reported weight status collected from 448 adolescents in four Chicago Public Schools were used. RESULTS: The prevalence of overweight and obesity (BMI ≥ 85(th )percentile) was 39.8%, but only 27.2% considered themselves as obese, although 43.4% reported trying to lose weight. Girls were more likely to express weight dissatisfaction than boys, especially those with BMI ≥ 95(th )percentile (62.9% vs. 25.9%). BMI ≥ 85(th )percentile girls were more likely to try to lose weight than boys (84.6% vs. 66.7%). Among all adolescents, 27.2% underestimated and 67.2% correctly judged their own weight status. Multinomial logistic models show that those with BMI ≥ 85(th )percentile, self-perceived as obese, or expressed body dissatisfaction were more likely to try to lose weight; adjusted odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals were 4.52 (2.53–8.08), 18.04 (7.19–45.30), 4.12 (1.64–10.37), respectively. No significant differences were found in diet and physical activity between those trying to lose weight and those not trying, but boys who reported trying to lose weight still spent more television time (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Gender differences in weight perception, body dissatisfaction, and weight control practices exist among African American adolescents. One-third did not appropriately classify their weight status. Weight perception and body dissatisfaction are correlates of weight control practices. Adolescents attempting to lose weight need be empowered to make adequate desirable behavioral changes.
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spelling pubmed-27042082009-07-01 Measured body mass index, body weight perception, dissatisfaction and control practices in urban, low-income African American adolescents Wang, Youfa Liang, Huifang Chen, Xiaoli BMC Public Health Research Article BACKGROUND: Current understanding of the associations between actual body weight status, weight perception, body dissatisfaction, and weight control practices among low-income urban African American adolescents is limited. The knowledge can help direct future intervention efforts. METHODS: Cross-sectional data including measured weight and height and self-reported weight status collected from 448 adolescents in four Chicago Public Schools were used. RESULTS: The prevalence of overweight and obesity (BMI ≥ 85(th )percentile) was 39.8%, but only 27.2% considered themselves as obese, although 43.4% reported trying to lose weight. Girls were more likely to express weight dissatisfaction than boys, especially those with BMI ≥ 95(th )percentile (62.9% vs. 25.9%). BMI ≥ 85(th )percentile girls were more likely to try to lose weight than boys (84.6% vs. 66.7%). Among all adolescents, 27.2% underestimated and 67.2% correctly judged their own weight status. Multinomial logistic models show that those with BMI ≥ 85(th )percentile, self-perceived as obese, or expressed body dissatisfaction were more likely to try to lose weight; adjusted odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals were 4.52 (2.53–8.08), 18.04 (7.19–45.30), 4.12 (1.64–10.37), respectively. No significant differences were found in diet and physical activity between those trying to lose weight and those not trying, but boys who reported trying to lose weight still spent more television time (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Gender differences in weight perception, body dissatisfaction, and weight control practices exist among African American adolescents. One-third did not appropriately classify their weight status. Weight perception and body dissatisfaction are correlates of weight control practices. Adolescents attempting to lose weight need be empowered to make adequate desirable behavioral changes. BioMed Central 2009-06-12 /pmc/articles/PMC2704208/ /pubmed/19523206 http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-9-183 Text en Copyright © 2009 Wang et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License ( (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0) ), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Wang, Youfa
Liang, Huifang
Chen, Xiaoli
Measured body mass index, body weight perception, dissatisfaction and control practices in urban, low-income African American adolescents
title Measured body mass index, body weight perception, dissatisfaction and control practices in urban, low-income African American adolescents
title_full Measured body mass index, body weight perception, dissatisfaction and control practices in urban, low-income African American adolescents
title_fullStr Measured body mass index, body weight perception, dissatisfaction and control practices in urban, low-income African American adolescents
title_full_unstemmed Measured body mass index, body weight perception, dissatisfaction and control practices in urban, low-income African American adolescents
title_short Measured body mass index, body weight perception, dissatisfaction and control practices in urban, low-income African American adolescents
title_sort measured body mass index, body weight perception, dissatisfaction and control practices in urban, low-income african american adolescents
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2704208/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19523206
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-9-183
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