TY - JOUR
T1 - Prevalence and correlates of dieting in college women
T2 - a cross sectional study
AU - Fayet, Flavia
AU - Petocz, Peter
AU - Samman, Samir
N1 - Copyright the Author(s) [2012]. Version archived for private and non-commercial use with the permission of the author/s and according to publisher conditions. For further rights please contact the publisher.
PY - 2012/8/10
Y1 - 2012/8/10
N2 - Background: Dieting is a common practice among young women, irrespective of age, race, ethnicity, and weight. We aimed to determine the prevalence of dieting and its relationship with eating behavior, body weight, and body mass index (BMI) in college women. Methods: This was a cross-sectional survey of female students aged 18-35 years (n = 308). Measures included BMI, restraint, disinhibition, hunger, dieting, weight loss, and perceived weight. Results: A high percentage of college females consider themselves overweight or obese, despite having a BMI in the normal range. Dieting was practised by 43%, and 32% were avoiding weight gain, despite 78% having a healthy BMI. Women classified themselves as overweight or obese (27%), while only 11% were actually in these categories. Exercise was a common method of weight loss and positive associations were observed between dieting and BMI. Assessment of eating behavior showed that 27% were classified as high-restraint. Restraint and disinhibition were positively correlated with BMI. Conclusion: Despite the widespread availability of nutrition information, there is incongruity in measured and perceived BMI in young educated women. Dieting practices and BMI are associated with restraint and disinhibition. Nutrition professionals should consider educating college women about healthy body weight regardless of their clients' BMI.
AB - Background: Dieting is a common practice among young women, irrespective of age, race, ethnicity, and weight. We aimed to determine the prevalence of dieting and its relationship with eating behavior, body weight, and body mass index (BMI) in college women. Methods: This was a cross-sectional survey of female students aged 18-35 years (n = 308). Measures included BMI, restraint, disinhibition, hunger, dieting, weight loss, and perceived weight. Results: A high percentage of college females consider themselves overweight or obese, despite having a BMI in the normal range. Dieting was practised by 43%, and 32% were avoiding weight gain, despite 78% having a healthy BMI. Women classified themselves as overweight or obese (27%), while only 11% were actually in these categories. Exercise was a common method of weight loss and positive associations were observed between dieting and BMI. Assessment of eating behavior showed that 27% were classified as high-restraint. Restraint and disinhibition were positively correlated with BMI. Conclusion: Despite the widespread availability of nutrition information, there is incongruity in measured and perceived BMI in young educated women. Dieting practices and BMI are associated with restraint and disinhibition. Nutrition professionals should consider educating college women about healthy body weight regardless of their clients' BMI.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84866088498&partnerID=8YFLogxK
M3 - Article
C2 - 22956885
AN - SCOPUS:84866088498
VL - 4
SP - 405
EP - 411
JO - International Journal of Women's Health
JF - International Journal of Women's Health
SN - 1179-1411
IS - 1
ER -