Weight Loss Among Students
Weight Loss 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. Participants were 116 male and 126 female volunteers
from a tertiary college in the south-west of England with a mean age of
17.90 years. 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 Loss 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 Loss Study Conclusions
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: Page A, Fox KR. Exercise and Health
Research Unit, University of Bristol, UK. 1998
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