The purpose of this study was to explore attitudes and self-perceptions towards physical activity and weight in an adolescent male population compared by school level and weight status.
Method:
Adolescent males (n=327) from a school district in Fort Worth participated in a survey that included Stunkard Silhouettes, Stages of Change, and Social Influences Scale. Self-perceptions compared self-report weight to measured Fitnessgram weight (actual). Image difference refers to the participant’s desire to either increase or decrease their body size (Stunkard Silhouettes) and is represented by a negative (reduction) or positive (increase) value.
Analysis/Results:
School level consisted of 149 middle school students and 178 high school students. Weight status consisted of 144 normal weight and 182 overweight/obese according to the CDC BMI percentile charts. ANOVAs (p<.01) for school level showed H.S. males (M = 1.14lbs) more closely predicted their weight than M.S. males (M=5.64); Social Support scores revealed middle school students perceived more support from family (M=3.54, SD = .89) than high school students (M=2.94, SD=.90). Stage of Change showed middle school students perceived to be closer to action stage (M=3.9, SD = 1.15) than high school students (M=3.52, SD=1.17). ANOVAs (p<.01) for weight status showed overweight students perceived their weight to be lower (M=6.62, SD = 15.83) than actual weight while normal weight students perceived their weight to be higher (M=-1.09, SD=6.72) than actual weight. Image difference scores indicated overweight students wanted to reduce their body size by almost 1.5 figures (M= -1.47, SD = 1.31) while normal weight students wanted to increase their body size by .5 figures(M=.52, SD=1.32). Frequencies showed 50.5% of the overweight students believed they fell within the normal weight images. Normal weight students perceived themselves to be closer to action (M=3.87, SD = 1.16) than overweight students (M=3.55, SD=1.1.17). Frequencies showed 48.4% of overweight males believed to reside in physically active stages of change.
Conclusions:
Overweight and obese students appear to have a more difficult time gauging their current weight status by both weight and image assessment. With obesity becoming a problem for all age groups, it may be that these adolescents don’t understand the true risk of overweight/obesity due to the growing prevalence of the condition around them. Social support from family was more salient for the younger middles school students so interventions moving forward may want to focus efforts on including parents and family in order to increase participation and enjoyment.