Weight control behaviors among overweight, normal weight and underweight adolescents in Palestine: findings from the national study of Palestinian schoolchildren (HBSC-WBG2004).
OBJECTIVE
The objective of the study is to examine the relationship between weight-control behaviors and self-reported sociodemographic characteristics, weight status, and perception of body weight in a large, representative sample of adolescents in the West Bank and Gaza Strip territories of Palestine.


METHODS
Self-report measures of sociodemographic characteristics, body weight perception, height and weight, and weight-control behaviors were completed by 8,885 male and female students aged 12-18 years from 405 randomly selected schools as part of the 2003/2004 Palestinian Health Behavior in School-aged Children Study (HBSC).


RESULTS
In both genders, dieting to lose weight was common among adolescents and significantly higher among overweight than among underweight or normal weight adolescents. Extreme weight-control behaviors (vomiting, diet pills, or laxatives) and smoking were more common among boys than girls, and extreme weight-control behaviors were particularly common among underweight boys. Older adolescents were less likely than younger adolescents to engage in weight-control behaviors. Perception of body weight as too fat was an influential factor in following an unhealthy diet to lose weight.


CONCLUSIONS
Practices to control weight, particularly extreme and unhealthy weight-control behaviors, are common among adolescents in the Palestinian territories. These findings suggest the need to design appropriate prevention and early intervention programs for adolescents in Palestine.
Department of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, Gent University, Belgium.
Haleama
H
Al Sabbah
Carine
C
Vereecken
Ziad
Z
Abdeen
Colette
C
Kelly
Kristiina
K
Ojala
Agnes
A
Németh
Namanjeet
N
Ahluwalia
Lea
L
Maes
D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D018912:Arabs / Q000523:psychology*; D001828:Body Image; D001835:Body Weight; D002648:Child; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004038:Diet, Reducing / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior / Q000208:ethnology; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008877:Middle East; D050177:Overweight / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000523:psychology*; D012737:Sex Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013851:Thinness / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000523:psychology*