This study describes the relationships between sedentary activity and body composition in 1,458 sixth-grade girls from 36 middle schools across the United States. Multivariate associations between sedentary activity and body composition were examined with regression analyses using general linear mixed models. Mean age, body mass index, and…

Context: Childhood overweight is a global health problem. Monitoring of childhood body mass index (BMI) may help identify critical time periods during which excess body weight is accumulated. Purpose: To examine changes in mean BMI and the prevalence of at-risk-for overweight in repeated cross-sectional samples of rural first grade schoolchildren…

Background: This study examined the mediating function of body weight perception (BWP) in the relation between body mass index (BMI) and unhealthy weight control behaviors (UWCBs; eg, fasting, using diet pills, or laxatives), and between BMI and suicidal ideation. It also explored the correlation between exposure to multiple UWCBs and suicidal…

With female collegiate athletes, we examined the relationship of eating pathology to body image concerns, weight pressures, sociocultural internalization, and mood state. Multivariate analyses revealed that the symptomatic and eating disorder groups were similar on seven of eight weight pressures, three of four mood states, on internalization, and…

Background: Previous research has shown that youth who are homeless engage in high-risk behaviors. However, there has been little information published on nutritional and physical activity behaviors in this population, and studies comparing homeless youth in school with their non-homeless peers are scarce. This study compares weight-related risk…

There have been mixed results concerning any association between self-esteem and smoking prevalence in young people. The aim of this paper was to investigate cross-sectional and longitudinal relationships between self-esteem and the uptake of smoking in childhood, and how various sub-components of self-esteem are related to smoking. A sample of…

The first purpose of this study was to investigate direct links between body image dissatisfaction (BID) in college women and their memories of either parent as cold and emotionally aloof. Theory, clinical case evidence, and a small (but growing) number of studies support these links. After estimating the strength of the associations between…

In an era of curricular accountability where everything from reading and math scores to body fat are events to be assembled, scrutinized, and standardized, the health-conscious school plays an ever-important role in community and the nation (or so we are told). This qualitative study analyzes interviews with school leaders in their role in…

Overweight and obesity are major health concerns for young people. Schools are particularly promising environments for preventing and treating obesity. The Institutes of Medicine recommends 60 minutes per day of physical activity for children and youth, including at least 30 minutes at school. Yet the amount of moderate to vigorous physical…

Context: Regular screenings are important for reducing cancer morbidity and mortality. There are several barriers to receiving timely cancer screening, including overweight/obesity. No study has examined the relationship between overweight/obesity and cancer screening among American Indian/Alaska Natives (AI/ANs). Purpose: To describe the…

The behavioral processes of weight reduction are poorly understood, and responses to treatments based primarily on caloric restriction have been unfavorable. A theory-based path derived from proposed relations of physical activity, changes in psychological factors, and weight loss was separately tested with women with Class I and Class II obesity…

From a large school-based sample (N = 3,084), 49 Mainland Chinese adolescents (31 girls, 18 boys) who endorsed all DSM-IV criteria for bulimia nervosa (BN) or sub-threshold BN and 49 matched controls (31 girls, 18 boys) completed measures of demographics and sociocultural experiences related to body image. Compared to less symptomatic peers, those…

Treatment outcome studies demonstrate that day-hospital programs are effective in the treatment of eating disorders. Few descriptions are available on the specifics of treatment, particularly the process of therapy. The group therapy modality is thought to provide important therapeutic benefits. The present study aimed to examine the association…

This paper investigates the association between obesity and skill attainment in early childhood (aged 2-4 years). Data from the German Socio-Economic Panel Study are used to estimate models of developmental functioning in four critical areas (verbal skills, activities of daily living, motor skills, and social skills) as a function of various…

Objective and Participants: The authors assessed the stability of diet and physical activity and their relationship to weight changes in first-year university women. Methods: They collected anthropometric and body composition data from 101 resident women at the beginning of their first year of college and again at 12 months. The authors obtained…