Pierre Rodrigue, Matthews Kristyn, Tawk Rima
Institute of Public Health, Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, Tallahassee, FL, United States.
Arena Analytics, Tallahassee, FL, United States.
Health Behav Policy Rev. 2022 Mar 1;9(2):815-827. doi: 10.14485/HBPR.9.2.8.
Actions adopted by adolescents to control their weight are motivated by their body weight perception. In this study, we aimed to investigate the association between body weight perception and weight control behavior among Florida public high school students.
We analyzed data from the 2015 Florida Youth Risk Behavior Survey (N = 3798). We used chi-square test to detect group differences among survey respondents and multivariate logistic regression to assess the association between weight perception and weight control behavior.
Most survey respondents adopted healthy actions such as exercise and diet, 75.3% and 55.0%, respectively, and few used unhealthy ones as weight control means, such as fasting, use of diet products, and purging, 15.6%, 7.3%, and 6.5% respectively. Compared to respondents who considered themselves as having the right weight, there were higher odds of engaging in healthy activities only in respondents who considered themselves as being overweight while there were higher odds of engaging in unhealthy actions in respondents perceiving themselves as underweight and in those viewing themselves as overweight.
High school health education courses should include modules educating students on the importance of having accurate knowledge about body weight and adopting a healthy weight control behavior.
青少年采取控制体重的行为是受其体重认知的驱动。在本研究中，我们旨在调查佛罗里达州公立高中学生的体重认知与体重控制行为之间的关联。
我们分析了2015年佛罗里达青少年风险行为调查的数据（N = 3798）。我们使用卡方检验来检测调查对象之间的组间差异，并使用多因素逻辑回归来评估体重认知与体重控制行为之间的关联。
大多数调查对象采取了健康的行为，如锻炼和饮食，分别为75.3%和55.0%，很少有人使用不健康的方法作为体重控制手段，如禁食、使用减肥产品和催吐，分别为15.6%、7.3%和6.5%。与认为自己体重正常的调查对象相比，只有认为自己超重的调查对象进行健康活动的几率更高，而认为自己体重过轻和超重的调查对象进行不健康行为的几率更高。
高中健康教育课程应包括模块，教育学生了解准确认识体重的重要性以及采取健康的体重控制行为。
