Self-perception of body weight, weight management practices and goals, and other weight-related factors in central and eastern European adolescents.
Self-perception of body weight, management practices and goals, and other weight-related factors were assessed among a sample of 2,566 adolescents from 30 high schools in Hungary, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Romania, Ukraine, and Poland. Students who perceived themselves as much too fat were more likely than those with other weight perceptions to engage in weight management practices to lose weight, have higher body mass index, rate themselves lower on physical attractiveness, and estimate higher percentages of their same-sex friends as trying to lose weight. Similar to other research, boys and girls differed on self-perception of weight and other weight-related factors. Cross-cultural comparisons between central and eastern European adolescents and U.S. adolescents, as well as east and southeast Asian youth are made. Implications for health education practice are discussed.
Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah 84604, USA. randy_page@byu.edu
Randy M
RM
Page
Ferenc
F
Ihász
Martina
M
Uvacsek
Irén
I
Kalabiska
Erin
E
Johnson
Iacob
I
Hantiu
Renata
R
Klarova
Jaromir
J
Simonek
D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001828:Body Image; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001835:Body Weight; D005061:Europe, Eastern; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010379:Peer Group; D012649:Self Concept; D012737:Sex Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires