adolescents’ subjective appraisals: relationships with body image and dieting attempts

Background: current concerns around obesity, physical inactivity, eating disorders and their associated health consequences sustains the need for understanding body image and disordered eating in adolescence. objectives: the study exploredhowsubjective appraisals of health, familial support, wellbeing and weight are associated with body image and dieting attempts in adolescents. methods: the study analysed data from a population-representative uk adolescent sample of 3,684 adolescents (aged between 11 and 16) from understanding society. gender-stratified hierarchical and logistic regressions modelled the relationships between the adolescents’ subjective appraisals of self (health, familial support, wellbeing and weight) and their body image and dieting attempts respectively. results: subjective appraisal of being overweight was the strongest and most consistent predictor of poorer body image (bs = 1.17 to 1.19, p < 0.01) and higher likelihood of dieting and weight loss attempts in both males (odds ratios = 9.36 to 9.76, p < 0.001) and females (odds ratio = 8.88 to 9.43, p < 0.001). positive appraisals of health and wellbeing were associated with positive body image (bs = 0.25 to 0.55, p < 0.001). however, positive appraisals of family supportwere associated with dieting attempts in males (b = 1.34, p < 0.05). conclusions: these highlight the importance of incorporating education components addressing wellbeing and family support into current adolescent public health programmes looking to mitigate risks of developing unhealthy weight control behaviours.