title: A longitudinal study of body change strategies of fitness center attendees.
abstract: This study evaluated predictors of strategies to change weight and muscles among men and women who attend fitness centers. A questionnaire was completed by 107 men (mean age=39.17, SD=13.14), and 151 women (mean age=35.31, SD=11.38) who regularly attended fitness centers at two points in time, one year apart. The only unique predictor of body change strategies over time for men was body dissatisfaction predicting drive for thinness; for women, body dissatisfaction predicted strategies to lose weight, drive for thinness, use of food supplements to lose weight and levels of bulimia. Media messages also predicted drive for thinness and bulimia among women. These findings would suggest that attendance body dissatisfaction is an important factor predicting other normative and health risk behaviors among fitness center attendees, particularly women at a fitness center over a 12 month period was not generally associated with adverse health risk behaviors.
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, Deakin University, 221 Burwood Highway, Burwood, Victorian 3125 Australia. marita.mccabe@deakin.edu.au
authors.forename: Marita P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: McCabe
authors.forename: Lina A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Ricciardelli
authors.forename: Tegan
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: James
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001828:Body Image; D052018:Bulimia Nervosa / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D020446:Fitness Centers / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008402:Mass Media; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D010809:Physical Fitness; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires