Body image and strategies to lose weight and increase muscle among boys and girls

This study examined factors that influence body image and strategies to either lose weight or increase muscle among children. Participants were 237 boys and 270 girls. Body mass index (BMI), body dissatisfaction, cognitions and behaviors to both lose weight and increase muscles, as well as self-esteem and positive and negative affect, were evaluated. Self-esteem was associated with body satisfaction, positive affect predicted strategies to lose weight and increase muscles, and negative affect predicted body dissatisfaction and cognitions to lose weight and increase muscles. Boys were more likely to focus on changing muscles. Respondents with higher BMIs were more focused on losing weight but not muscle. The discussion focuses on health risk behaviors related to eating and exercise among children.

A longitudinal study of body image and strategies to lose weight and increase muscles in children

A longitudinal study was used to examine age differences in the role of body mass index (BMI) and sociocultural pressures in predicting changes in body image and strategies to both lose weight and increase muscles among 443 children aged between 8 and 12 years (207 boys, 236 girls) over a 16-month period. The strongest predictors of body image and these strategies were BMI, the media and mothers, and to a lesser extent fathers and best friends. Girls were focused on losing weight, whereas boys were focused on both increasing muscle and losing weight. Surprisingly, there was a reduction in strategies both to lose weight and increase muscles as children approached adolescence. The implications of these findings for preventative educational programs for boys and girls are discussed.

Sociocultural influences on strategies to lose weight, gain weight, and increase muscles among ten cultural groups

This study determined how sociocultural messages to change one's body are perceived by adolescents from different cultural groups. In total, 4904 adolescents, including Australian, Chilean, Chinese, Indo-Fijian, Indigenous Fijian, Greek, Malaysian, Chinese Malaysian, Tongans in New Zealand, and Tongans in Tonga, were surveyed about messages from family, peers, and the media to lose weight, gain weight, and increase muscles. Groups were best differentiated by family pressure to gain weight. Girls were more likely to receive the messages from multiple sociocultural sources whereas boys were more likely to receive the messages from the family. Some participants in a cultural group indicated higher, and others lower, levels of these sociocultural messages. These findings highlight the differences in sociocultural messages across cultural groups, but also that adolescents receive contrasting messages within a cultural group. These results demonstrate the difficulty in representing a particular message as being characteristic of each cultural group.

Encouragement of physical activity for weight loss may lead to negative psychological outcomes among girls

PURPOSE To examine correlates and consequences of parents' encouragement of girls' physical activity (PA) for weight loss (ENCLOSS). METHODS Data were collected for 181 girls, mothers and fathers when girls were 9, 11, and 13 years old. Mothers and fathers completed a self-report questionnaire of ENCLOSS (e.g., “I have talked to my daughter about how to exercise to lose weight”). Correlates of ENCLOSS that were assessed include girls' Body Mass Index (BMI) z-score and parents' modeling of and logistic support for PA. Dependent variables assessed at age 13 include girls' self-reported and objectively-measured PA, enjoyment of physical activity, and weight concerns. Associations between ENCLOSS, girls' BMI, and parent's support for PA were assessed using spearman rank correlations. To examine links between ENCLOSS and the outcome variables, scores for ENCLOSS were divided into tertiles at each age. Three groups were created including girls who were in the highest tertile at each age (high ENCLOSS), girls who were in the lowest tertile at each age (low ENCLOSS), and girls who varied in their tertile ranking (mid ENCLOSS). Group differences in the outcome variables were assessed using regression analysis (referent group: low ENCLOSS), controlling for girls' BMI and the outcome variable at age 9. RESULTS Girls' with higher BMI had mothers and fathers who reported higher ENCLOSS (r = .61-. 69, p<. 0001). Parents'reports of ENCLOSS were not associated with modeling of or logistic support for PA. Girls in the high ENCLOSS group reported significantly lower enjoyment of PA and higher weight concerns at age 13, independent of covariates. No differences in PA were noted. CONCLUSION Parents who encourage their daughters to be active for weight loss do not model PA or facilitate girls' PA. Persistent encouragement of PA for weight loss may lead to low enjoyment of PA and higher weight concerns among adolescent girls.

Prescribing for weight loss in primary care: evidence from a population based study

Background Taking antiobesity medication can be a cost effective way to lose weight. Uptake is determined in part by a General Practitioner's decision to prescribe weight loss medication and, in part, by patient preference. It is probable that the latter may indicate a patient's readiness to lose weight.


Methods Analysis of cross-sectional data (from February 2003 to March 2011) from a population based prescribing database (~1.75 million people) using an adjusted Poisson regression.


Results The number of antiobesity medications increased from 23.4 per 1000 population in 2004 to 30.7 per 1000 population in 2010 and was three times higher in female than in male subjects. Against this background, a marked seasonal variation in the number of antiobesity medications dispensed was evident (p<0.001), peaking in June/July with a trough in December/January (±8.0% peak to trough). The seasonal component was stronger in female subjects, ±11.2% peak to trough, compared with ±3.5% for male subjects.


Conclusions Obese patients, particularly women, increase their uptake of weight loss medication in the months leading up to the summer holiday period. The period prior to the summer may represent a time that health professionals could promote increased participation of obese patients in weight loss programmes.

Weight-preoccupation, personality and depression in university students : an interactionist perspective

The present research was designed to examine Beck's (1983; 1987) cognitive diathesis-stress model of depression in a new context. Specifically, this cross-sectional study investigated whether Beck's cognitive-personality traits of sociotropy and autonomy interacted with a specific daily hassle/stressor, weightpreoccupation, in the prediction of depressed mood in women and men. Weightpreoccupation was chosen as the particular daily stressor, because, according to Kanner, Coyne, Schaeffer, and Lazarus (1981). concern about weight and physical appearance were two of the most troublesome daily hassles among university students. ContraIy to current stereotypes, men also express concerns with weight and appearance (Cash, Winstead, &, landi, 1986), in both the direction of weight loss and weight/muscle gain (Drewnowski &, Yee, 1987). Thus, unique to this study was the examination of weight-preoccupation in men, not only in the direction of weight loss, but also in the direction of weight and muscle gain. Two hundred and fifty-one undergraduates were administered the revised SociotropyAutonomy Scale (SAS), the Beck Depression Inventory (BDij, the Hassles and Uplifts Scale, the Eating Disorders Inventory (EDI), and the Restraint Scale (RS). Through a process of model building, a final model was devised in which depression (ie., BDI total scores) was regressed on personality (Le., SAS Sociotropy) and weight-preoccupation (i.e., Drive for Thinness, Body Dissatisfaction, and the Restraint Scale). Separate hierarchical multiple regression analyses, with BDI as the dependent variable, were carried out for each of the 2 3 weight-preoccupation variables. Results revealed a specific congruent interaction between weight,..preoccupation and personality. Specifically, drive for thinness and body dissatisfaction interacted with sociotropy to predict depressed mood in both women and men, but the interaction between sociotropy and the Restraint Scale was marginal. Findings suggested that weight-preoccupied women and men experienced depressed mood to the extent that they were characterized as more highly sociotropic. As predicted, personality (i.e., sociotropy), moderated the relationship between daily stress (i.e., weight-preoccupation) and depression. Thus, results revealed that the proposed diathesis-stress model seemed to operate in the same manner for women and men. Moreover, the examination of weightpreoccupation among men (i.e., in the direction of both weight loss and weight/muscle gain) further revealed that, when curvilinearity was taken into account, highly sociotropic men, who had a low desire to gain weight and muscle mass (i.e., most likely those who desired to lose weight), experienced higher levels of depressed mood than those who had a "medium" desire for weight and muscle gain. However, the highest levels of depressed mood was experienced by highly sociotropic men who were highly weight-preoccupied in the direction of wanting to gain weight and muscle mass. In addition, possible reasons for the present fmdings, as wen as iimitations and impiicalions for future research are discussed.

Self-esteem and negative affect as moderators of sociocultural influences on body dissatisfaction, strategies to decrease weight and strategies to increase muscles among adolescent boys and girls

The study was conducted to examine the impact of sociocultural influences and the moderating role of self-esteem and negative affect on body dissatisfaction and body change strategies for both adolescent boys and girls. Surveys designed to assess body dissatisfaction, body change strategies to decrease weight and increase muscles, perceived sociocultural pressures to lose weight and increase muscles, self-esteem and negative affect were administered to 587 boys and 598 girls aged between 11 and 15 years. The majority of respondents were from Anglo-Australian backgrounds (83%) with the remainder being from Asian and European non-English-speaking backgrounds. The sociocultural influences were found to significantly predict body dissatisfaction and body change strategies for both boys and girls. However, in the case of boys, self-esteem was found to moderate the impact of the sociocultural influences in predicting body change strategies. It was primarily the boys with low self-esteem who were more affected by the sociocultural pressures whereas the girls were affected independently of their self-esteem. Negative affect was also found to play a moderating role on some of the sociocultural influences in predicting strategies to increase muscles. Both boys and girls with higher levels of negative affect were more likely to be affected by sociocultural messages directed at increasing muscles. The results from the present study demonstrate that as well as examining the direct influence of sociocultural pressures, it is also important to examine how these may be moderated by self-esteem and negative affect.

The role of puberty, media and popularity with peers on strategies to increase weight, decrease weight and increase muscle tone among adolescent boys and girls

The present study was concerned with the impact of pubertal development, relationships with peers and perceived pressure from the media on body dissatisfaction and body change behaviors among adolescent boys and girls. In particular, the study investigated the underresearched area of strategies to increase weight and muscle. The exploration of body change strategies among adolescent boys has been a neglected area of research. Methods: Respondents were 1185 adolescents (527 males, 598 females) who were enrolled in Grades 7 and 9. Participants completed measures of pubertal development, media and peer influence, body dissatisfaction and strategies to lose weight, increase weight and to increase muscle. Results: The findings demonstrated that girls were more likely than boys to adopt strategies to lose weight, whereas boys were more likely to adopt strategies to increase muscle tone (but not weight). For boys in both Years 7 and 9, the main predictors of body change strategies were puberty and, to a lesser extent, perceived popularity with peers. The major influences for Years 7 and 9 girls were puberty and the media, but these mainly focused on weight loss. For Year 9 girls, perceived popularity with opposite-sex peers also predicted body dissatisfaction and strategies to increase muscle tone. Conclusion: The implications of these findings for understanding factors related to a range of body change strategies for adolescent boys and girls are discussed.

A prospective study of pressures from parents, peers, and the media on extreme weight change behaviors among adolescent boys and girls

The current study was designed to evaluate the role of sociocultural influences over a 16 month period on strategies to lose weight, extreme weight loss strategies, and strategies to increase muscles among adolescent boys (n=344) and girls (n=246). All participants completed measures of body dissatisfaction, body image importance, strategies to lose weight, extreme weight loss strategies, and strategies to increase muscles. Measures of perceived pressure to lose weight or increase muscles from mother, father, best male friend, best female friend and the media were also evaluated. Data were gathered on three occasions, 8 months apart. The results demonstrated that boys showed a decrease in strategies to lose weight and increase muscles over time, whereas girls showed an increase. Both boys and girls showed an increase in extreme weight loss strategies with girls demonstrating a greater increase than boys. The sociocultural influences generally were perceived by girls to relate to messages to lose weight, whereas for boys they were perceived to relate to increasing muscles. Messages from parents, particularly fathers, were strong predictors of both strategies to lose weight and increase muscles among boys, with the media and best male friend playing a limited role. For girls, the strongest influences were mothers and best female friends, with few influences from fathers or the media. The results of this study are discussed in terms of the importance of the various sociocultural influences in shaping body change strategies among young adolescent boys and girls, and the implications of these findings for intervention programs for adolescents.

A longitudinal study to explain stratiges to change weight and muscles among normal weight and overweight children

Previous research has indicated that both boys and girls strive for a slim body, with boys having an additional focus on a muscular body build. The current study was designed to evaluate the utility of a biopsychosocial model to explain body image and body change strategies among children. The study evaluated changes over time in body image and strategies to lose weight and increase muscles among 132 normal weight and 67 overweight boys (mean age=9.23 years) and 158 normal weight and 55 overweight girls (mean age=9.33 years). The predictive role of BMI, positive and negative affect, self-esteem and perceived sociocultural pressures to lose weight or increase muscle on body image and body change strategies over a 16 month period was evaluated. All participants completed the questionnaire on both occasions. The results demonstrated that both overweight boys and girls were more likely to be dissatisfied with their weight, place more importance on their weight, engage in more strategies to lose weight as well as perceive more pressure to lose weight. Overweight boys and girls were also more likely to report lower levels of self-esteem and positive affect, and higher levels of negative affect, and reported a reduction in their self-esteem over time. Regression analyses demonstrated that among overweight boys, low self-esteem and high levels of perceived pressure to lose weight predicted weight dissatisfaction; for overweight girls, weight dissatisfaction was also predicted by low levels of self-esteem. The implication of these findings in terms of factors contributing to the adoption of health risk behaviors among children is discussed.

Negative affect as a mediator between body dissatisfaction and extreme weight loss and muscle gain behaviors

Negative affect has been found to mediate the relationship between body dissatisfaction and bulimia. However, it is unknown if this relationship also applies to disordered eating, excessive exercise and strategies to increase muscle for men or women. The aim of this study was to investigate whether negative and positive affect mediate the relationship between body dissatisfaction, and these body change strategies. Respondents were 93 men and 97 women (age range: 18-25 years), who completed measures of body dissatisfaction, positive and negative affect and body change strategies to lose weight or increase muscles. Body dissatisfaction was associated with strategies to lose weight, dietary restraint and bulimia for both genders. Negative affect mediated the relationship between dissatisfaction with muscles and strategies to lose weight, dietary restraint and bulimia for women only. The results confirm previous findings related to the association between negative affect and disordered eating for women. They also demonstrate the need to further investigate the impact of negative affect on body change strategies, particularly among men, and those strategies related to increasing muscles.

Multiple types of dieting prospectively predict weight gain during the freshman year of college.

The freshman year of college is a period of heightened risk for weight gain. This study examined measures of restrained eating, disinhibition, and emotional eating as predictors of weight gain during the freshman year. Using Lowe's multi-factorial model of dieting, it also examined three different types of dieting as predictors of weight gain. Sixty-nine females were assessed at three points during the school year. Weight gain during the freshman year averaged 2.1 kg. None of the traditional self-report measures of restraint, disinhibition, or emotional eating were predictive of weight gain. However, both a history of weight loss dieting and weight suppression (discrepancy between highest weight ever and current weight) predicted greater weight gain, and these effects appeared to be largely independent of one another. Individuals who said they were currently dieting to lose weight gained twice as much (5.0 kg) as former dieters (2.5 kg) and three times as much as never dieters (1.6 kg), but the import of this finding was unclear because there was only a small number of current dieters (N=7). Overall the results indicate that specific subtypes of dieting predicts weight gain during the freshman year better than more global measures of restraint or overeating.

Preventing weight and muscle concerns among preadolescents

The high level of weight and shape concerns amongst preadolescent children has prompted interest in the development of prevention programs for this age group. In the 1990s weight and shape concerns were considered primarily an adolescent phenomenon. However, prevention programs which have been designed with adolescent and adult populations have been found to show limited success. Some researchers have argued that programs which target preadolescent children are more likely to be effective than programs that target adolescents, as by adolescence many attitudes and behaviours have become entrenched so they may be more difficult to modify. On the other hand, children's weight and shape concerns are believed to be more malleable and amenable to change. To date there have been limited controlled studies implementing prevention programs designed to reduce weight and shape concerns with preadolescent populations. The new study conducted as part of this thesis involves the development and implementation of the ‘Everybody’ s Different, Nobody Else Is Me’ preadolescent prevention program. The program was designed to address some of the methodological biases of past research and incorporate three risk factors, social comparisons, negative affect, and self-esteem, to reduce and/or prevent the development of weight and muscle concerns among children. These three risk factors have been found to be associated with weight and shape concerns of adolescents and adults, and there is also increasing evidence that they are important factors among children. Research also suggests that social comparisons, negative affect, and self-esteem are interrelated, which highlights the importance of targeting the variables in one program. The new five session prevention initiative was implemented with 156 grade four children. Both the treatment and control conditions consisted of 78 children. Preliminary evidence from the new prevention initiative indicated that the program reduced muscle bulk and exercise (ie. An over-emphasis on exercise to lose weight rather than health promotion), and negative affect in the long term as assessed by the six month follow-up. At the six month follow-up, children in both the treatment and control conditions reported reduced negative affect, dieting, and muscle bulk and exercise scores and increased positive affect. Consistent with short term follow-up results, boys reported greater muscle bulk and exercise scores than girls at the six month follow-up. Girls, in both conditions, were also found to report greater positive affect than boys. These findings are discussed in relation to past research, and suggestions for future prevention initiatives are highlighted.

Physical activity beliefs and behaviours among adults attempting weight control

Objective: To compare the frequency and duration of varying intensities of physical activity performed by adults trying to lose weight, avoid gaining weight and not actively trying to control their weight, and to compare these groups' beliefs about the physical activity they should perform.

Method: Random postal survey of 2500 Victorian adults selected from the Australian electoral roll (response rate=42%).

Measures: One-week physical activity recall (frequency and duration of walking, other moderate activity and vigorous activity), BMI (based on self-reported height and weight) and weight-control behaviour.

Results: At the time of the survey, 27% of respondents were actively trying to avoid gaining weight, 23.9% trying to lose weight and 49.1% undertaking no weight control. Respondents spent a mean time of 4.0 (±7.1) h walking, 5.5 (±7.9) h in moderate activity and 3.1(±5.9) h in vigorous activity during the week prior to the survey. Women trying to lose weight or avoid gaining weight engaged in vigorous activity more often than women not trying to control their weight. After adjusting for age, education and BMI, women trying to avoid gaining weight were 2.4 times more likely, and women trying to lose weight 2.5 times more likely, to have met current physical activity guidelines than women undertaking no weight control. On average, respondents believed they should spend 5.2 (±6.9) h walking, 6.5 (±8.2) h in moderate activity and 4.3 (±6.5) h in vigorous activity each week. Women trying to lose weight felt they should perform vigorous activity more often than other women. Weight-control behaviour was not associated with physical activity beliefs and behaviours of men.

Conclusion: Walking is a common activity among adults attempting weight control. However, many men and women do not fully recognize the value of moderate-intensity physical activity. Future efforts should be directed at promoting the role of moderate-intensity activity in weight control, particularly activity that can be performed outside of planned activity sessions.

Body image, weight loss and muscle building among Tongan adolescents in Tonga and New Zealand

This study examined body image and associated behaviours among 48 adolescents (24 males, 24 females) in Tonga, as well as 48 Tongan adolescents (24 males, 24 females) living in New Zealand (NZ). There was a lack of focus on body weight and shape among adolescents in both countries. Males evidenced a high focus on muscles. Females wanted to lose weight and obtain a soft round body. There were very few differences in the body image or body change strategies of Tongan adolescents in Tonga or NZ. Sociocultural messages need to be explored further in order to better understand these findings.