title: Measurement characteristics of weight concern and dieting measures in 8-10-year-old African-American girls from GEMS pilot studies.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Reliability and validity were established for weight concern measures completed by 8-10-year-old African-American girls participating in a pilot obesity prevention program.
  
  
  METHODS
  Two hundred ten girls and parents participated in the program. Girls completed subscales of the McKnight Risk Factor Survey (MRFS) and body silhouette ratings, had height, weight, and body fat measured, wore accelerometers for 3 days, and completed two dietary recalls. Principal components analysis, internal consistency, and test-retest reliability were computed for weight concerns and body image measures along with convergent validity with body mass index (BMI), percent body fat (PBF), physical activity, and dietary intake.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A Moderate Weight Control Behaviors (MWCB) subscale was derived from the MRFS. Overconcern with Weight and Shape (OWS) was a stand-alone scale. Internal consistency estimates for the scales were substantial ranging from 0.71 to 0.84. Test-retest reliabilities were moderate (0.45-0.58). OWS, MWCB, body silhouette rating, and body size discrepancy were positively associated with BMI and PBF. The "like to look" silhouette rating was negatively associated with PBF.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Weight concern measures had reasonable levels of internal consistency and promising validity, but only moderate test-retest reliability among preadolescent African-American girls. Refinement and further validation of weight concern measures in this population are warranted.
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55454, USA. Nancy.E.Sherwood@HealthPartners.com
authors.forename: Nancy E
authors.initials: NE
authors.lastname: Sherwood
authors.forename: Bettina M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Beech
authors.forename: Lisa M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Klesges
authors.forename: Mary
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Story
authors.forename: Joel
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Killen
authors.forename: Tiffany
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: McDonald
authors.forename: Thomas N
authors.initials: TN
authors.lastname: Robinson
authors.forename: Charlotte
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pratt
authors.forename: Ainong
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Cullen
authors.forename: Janice
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Baranowski
mesh_terms: D001741:Black or African American / Q000523:psychology; D001828:Body Image; D001835:Body Weight; D002648:Child; D004038:Diet, Reducing; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015337:Multicenter Studies as Topic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D009765:Obesity / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000523:psychology; D010290:Parents; D011594:Psychometrics; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States