Peer, parent, and media influences on the development of weight concerns and frequent dieting among preadolescent and adolescent girls and boys.
OBJECTIVE
To assess prospectively the influence of peers, parents, and the media on the development of weight concerns and frequent dieting.


METHODS
Prospective cohort study.


METHODS
Questionnaires mailed annually to participants throughout the United States.


METHODS
One-year follow-up of 6770 girls and 5287 boys who completed questionnaires in 1996 and 1997 and were between 9 and 14 years of age in 1996.


METHODS
Onset of high levels of concern with weight and dieting frequently to control weight.


RESULTS
During 1 year of follow-up, 6% of girls and 2% of boys became highly concerned with weight and 2% of girls and 1% of boys became constant dieters. Peer influence was negligible. Independent of age and body mass index, both girls (odds ratio [OR]): 1.9; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.1-3.1) and boys (OR: 2.7; 95% CI: 1.1-6. 4) who were making a lot of effort to look like same-sex figures in the media were more likely than their peers to become very concerned with their weight. Moreover, both girls (OR: 2.3; 95% CI: 1.1-5.0) and boys (OR: 2.6; 95% CI: 1.1-6.0) who reported that their thinness/lack of fat was important to their father were more likely than their peers to become constant dieters.


CONCLUSIONS
Our results suggest that parents and the media influence the development of weight concerns and weight control practices among preadolescents and adolescents. However, there are gender differences in the relative importance of these influences.
Field
A E
AE
Channing Laboratory, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. alison.field@channing.harvard.edu
Camargo
C A
CA
Taylor
C B
CB
Berkey
C S
CS
Roberts
S B
SB
Colditz
G A
GA
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001828:Body Image; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002648:Child; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004033:Diet Fads / Q000523:psychology; D004038:Diet, Reducing / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008402:Mass Media; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D010379:Peer Group; D011446:Prospective Studies; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012737:Sex Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires