title: Pathogenic Weight-Control Behaviors of Young Competitive Swimmers.
abstract: In brief: To study the use of weight-modification techniques by young swimmers, data were collected from 487 girls and 468 boys, aged 9 to 18, at a competitive swimming camp. The survey revealed that (1) many young swimmers had misperceptions about their body weights, with girls particularly likely to misperceive themselves as overweight; (2) swimmers' decisions to lose or gain weight were based on their perceptions more than on their actual weights; (3) opinions of others strongly influenced swimmers' opinions of their own weights; and (4) 15.4% of the girls (24.8% of postmenarcheal girls) and 3.6% of the boys used pathogenic weight-loss techniques. The swimmers' concerns about weight seemed to be more related to societal influences than to the demands of their sport.
authors.forename: G M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Dummer
authors.forename: L W
authors.initials: LW
authors.lastname: Rosen
authors.forename: W W
authors.initials: WW
authors.lastname: Heusner
authors.forename: P J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Roberts
authors.forename: J E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Counsilman