title: Perceptions of slimming and healthiness among Norwegian adolescent girls.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To explore what adolescent girls mean when they talk about healthiness and slimming, as well as the distinction between the 2 concepts.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data was collected by the use of 8 focus groups, each with 5-9 adolescent girls.
  
  
  METHODS
  Four different schools in Oslo and 2 other municipalities in Norway in 2006-2007.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty-eight girls in sixth grade (11 years old) and 24 girls in tenth grade (15 years old).
  
  
  METHODS
  Qualitative analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The adolescent girls' knowledge about diet and physical activity was generally in accordance with recommendations for healthful diet and lifestyle. The older girls were especially interested in energy metabolism, and they had ideas about what and when to eat and how to exercise to get the most effect in terms of metabolic rate and energy expenditure. The most important difference between general healthful behavior and slimming behavior was not considered to be the behavior itself, but the mindset. The girls meant that slimming may have negative effects regardless of the healthfulness of the weight control behaviors, when the driving force is body dissatisfaction.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The differentiation between healthiness and slimming focused more on the girls' relationship to their bodies than on behavioral differences.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, University of Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Kristiane
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hjelkrem
authors.forename: Nanna
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Lien
authors.forename: Margareta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wandel
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D001828:Body Image / Q000523:psychology*; D001835:Body Weight; D002648:Child; D004032:Diet / Q000523:psychology / Q000592:standards; D015444:Exercise / Q000523:psychology; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups; D015438:Health Behavior; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D009664:Norway; D010465:Perception; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D000297:Psychology, Adolescent