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Journal of Undergraduate Research

Keywords

perceived body size, weight control, high school aged girls

College

Family, Home, and Social Sciences

Department

Sociology

Abstract

My ORCA grant was used in a statistical examination using data from the 2001-2002 Health Behaviors in School-age Children, a nationally representative survey measuring children and adolescents on a variety of health-related behaviors and attitudes. With these data, I explored the effects of a discrepancy between actual and perceived body size on various types of weight control behaviors. I also took into account the influences of the sociocultural pressures of family, peers, and media, and also the influence of pubertal development. This examination focused on adolescent girls in 9th and 10th grade in the United States; it yielded a number of interesting findings which hold implications both for policy and future research.

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