title: Sorority women's body size perceptions and their weight-related attitudes and behaviors.
abstract: Six hundred twenty-seven sorority women were surveyed to determine if sorority members constituted a subgroup of college women who may be at increased risk for disordered eating. The sorority members were administered Body Mass Index Silhouettes and the Eating Disorder Inventory. The findings indicated that these sorority women may have a greater fear of becoming fat, are more dissatisfied with their bodies, and are more weight preoccupied and concerned with dieting than are college women from previous studies. The findings also suggested that body size perceptions were distorted among both underweight and overweight women and that thin was the ideal body profile for the majority of the women. Although bulimia scores were higher for this population than for those reported in all but one of the previous studies, these differences were not significant. More research and innovative programs designed to address weight-related attitudes and behaviors among this population are called for.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Education at the University of Maryland, College Park, USA.
authors.forename: E D
authors.initials: ED
authors.lastname: Schulken
authors.forename: P J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Pinciaro
authors.forename: R G
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Sawyer
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jensen
authors.forename: M T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Hoban
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001824:Body Constitution; D001828:Body Image; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001835:Body Weight; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D010469:Perceptual Distortion; D012931:Social Environment; D013334:Students; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires