PREDISPOSING FACTORS DIFFERENTIATING ADOLESCENT DIETERS AND NONDIETERS

Objective To examine whether certain biological, sociocultural, and psychological factors differentiate dieters from nondieters in male and female, black and white adolescents. Design In each race-sex group adolescents were divided into nondieters and dieters (those who had lost at least 5 lb through dieting) and compared using factors associated with overweight arid dieting. Subjects Participants were 1,269 high school seniors, with a mean (+/-standard deviation) age of 17.5+/-0.6 years, from 10 schools in a large metropolitan area (72% of enrolled students). Intervention Each student completed a self-administered questionnaire designed for this research, the Culture-Free Self-Esteem Inventory, and the Eating Disorder Inventory. Outcome measures Comparisons were made of dieters and noncheters using their previous and current weights, parental weights, birth order, socioeconomic status, religious affiliation, self-esteem scores, and other psychological factors. Statistical analyses Statistical analyses performed were chi2 and t tests. Results Factors thought to be associated with overweight in adolescents, such as parental weights, birth order, and socioeconomic status, were not found to be significantly different in dieters and nondieters in any of the four race-sex groups. In fact, the majority of dieters in this study were not-overweight (ie, above the 85th percentile of body mass index). Instead, what most clearly distinguished dieters from non-dieters was their perception of being overweight before kindergarten, after kindergarten, and at the time of the study, and the feelings of body dissatisfaction and wanting to be thinner that being overweight engenders. Applications Because most adolescents diet because they perceive themselves to be overweight when they are not, adolescent dieters are not easy to identify. Instead, dietitians can offer educational programs that help all adolescents accept more realistic weights and adopt patterns of eating and exercise that remove or reduce the need to diet.