Weight Management Study - UK College Students
Weight Management Study Aim
Young people are often seen as an important target for prevention of overweight,
but we know little about the factors which are important for their weight
management decisions. This study aimed to evaluate the extent to which
elements of body composition and dimensions were implicated in their decisions
to change their weight.
Weight Management Study Subjects
Participants were 116 male and 126 female volunteers from a tertiary college
in the south-west of England with a mean age of 18 years.
Weight Management Study Measurements
Body composition measures included height (m), weight (kg), waist and
hip circumferences (mm), shoulder and hip girths (mm) and skinfold thicknesses
(triceps, calf and subscapular, mm). Students also provided self-reported
information on dietary practices they had undertaken in the last year.
Weight Management Study Results
More females reported attempting weight loss in the last year compared
to males (51.5 vs. 17.6 percent), although more males reported attempting
weight gain (19.3 vs. 2.3 percent). Reported dietary strategies for both
males and females centred around eating less fatty foods, eating less
than usual and exercising more. However, a significant proportion of females
also reported excessive strategies, such as self-induced vomiting and
regular crash dieting. Results indicated that females who desired to lose
weight were significantly heavier, and bigger in terms of circumferences
and skeletal breadths, compared to females who did not wish to change
their weight. For males, the 'weight loss' group were significantly bigger,
heavier and fatter compared to the 'no change' and 'weight gain' group.
For females only, the previously significant main effect for body dimensions
across weight management groups was extinguished when controlling for
bone dimensions.
Weight Management Study Conclusion
These results indicate that frame size, particularly in the lower trunk,
is a more important predictor of female weight management decision-making,
than their levels of fatness. For males, fatness appears to drive their
weight management decision-making processes to a greater extent.
Source: International Journal of Obesity
(2002)
Obesity Help
|
|
|
com