[Unfounded dieting among adolescent girls and socio-economic status of their families].
AIM OF THE STUDY was to examine: the prevalence of dieting and other weight control behaviour among adolescent girls without body mass excess (BMI 90 percentile or less); relationship between weight control practices and the socio-economic status of the girls' families by age and place of residence.


METHODS
Data from HBSC (Health Behaviour in School-aged Children: A WHO Collaborative Cross-national Study) surveys, carried out in Poland in 2002 in representative sample of girls aged 11.7; 13.7 and 15.7 (N= 2774) was used. An international standard questionnaire (anonymous) has been chosen as an instrument for data collection. Two indicators of socio-economic status (SES) were developed by researchers in the HBSC study: FAS (Family Affluence Scale) and PFW (Perceived Family Wealth).


RESULTS
18.8% of adolescent girls were engaged in dieting and other weight control behaviour, 25.1% were in the risk group (girls who think that they should loose some weight). The prevalence of these behaviours increase with age, is higher among girls living in cities than in villages. The prevalence of weight control behaviour is higher among girls from families with higher SES. The risk of unfounded weight control behaviour is higher among 15-year old, girls living in town in families with higher SES.


CONCLUSIONS
Unfounded dieting and other weight control practices among adolescent girls should be recognized as a new risk behaviour; future studies are necessary for assessment of causes and range of these behaviours as the basis for development of preventive programmes.
Kołoło
Hanna
H
Zakład Epidemiologii, Instytut Matki i Dziecka, Kasprzaka 17a, 01-211 Warszawa, Poland. epid@imid.med.pl
Woynarowska
Barbara
B
D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology; D001294:Attitude to Health; D001828:Body Image; D001835:Body Weight; D002648:Child; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D011044:Poland / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D000297:Psychology, Adolescent; D012424:Rural Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012923:Social Class; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014505:Urban Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*