Overweight adolescents' self-perceived weight and weight control behaviour: HBSC study in Finland 19942010

Introduction. overweight and perception of being overweight,may lead adolescent to lose weight. the aim of the present study was to investigate overweight adolescents' self-perceived weight,body dissatisfaction,and weight control behaviour during 1994-2010 in finland. methods. the country- representative,cross-sectional data of 15-year olds were obtained from the health behaviour in school-aged children (hbsc) study,conducted in 1994 (n=1194; males: 48%),1998 (n=1545; 49%),2002 (n=1745; 50%),2006 (n=1670; 47%),and 2010 (n=2082; 48%). results. the majority of overweight boys (62-69%) and girls (89-100%) assessed themselves as too fat,and their body image was lower than in nonoverweight adolescents. the highest prevalence of current weight controlling was found in 2006 in males (18%) and in 2010 in females (39%). conclusion. the phenomena were current and gender differences notable,but there was no statistically significant difference in overweight adolescents' self-perceived weight,body dissatisfaction,or weight control behaviour between survey years. © 2012 kristiina ojala et al.