The contribution of school environmental factors to individual and school variation in disordered weight control behaviors in a statewide sample of middle schools
Austin, S. Bryn ; Richmond, Tracy K. ; Spadano-Gasbarro, Jennifer L. ; Greaney, Mary L. ; Blood, Emily A. ; Walls, Courtney E. ; Wang, Monica L. ; Mezgebu, Solomon ; Osganian, Stavroula K. ; Peterson, Karen E.
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Keywords
Adolescent Behavior
Behavior Control
Body Weight
Child
Child Behavior
Eating Disorders
Female
Health Behavior
Humans
Male
*Schools
Self Report
*Social Environment
Students
Behavior and Behavior Mechanisms
Community Health
Community Health and Preventive Medicine
Pediatrics
Public Health
Public Health Education and Promotion
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Abstract
We investigated the contribution of school environmental factors to individual and school variation in disordered weight control behaviors (DWCB). Analyses were based on self-report data gathered from 18,567 middle-school students in 2005 and publicly available data on school characteristics. We observed large differences across schools in percent of students engaging in DWCB in the past month, ranging from less than 1% of the student body to 12%. School-neighborhood poverty was associated with higher odds of DWCB in boys. Preventive strategies need to account for wide variability across schools and environmental factors that may contribute to DWCB in early adolescence.
Source
Austin SB, Richmond TK, Spadano-Gasbarro J, Greaney ML, Blood EA, Walls C, Wang ML, Mezgebu S, Osganian SK, Peterson KE. The contribution of school environmental factors to individual and school variation in disordered weight control behaviors in a statewide sample of middle schools. Eat Disord. 2013;21(2):91-108. doi: 10.1080/10640266.2013.761080. Link to article on publisher's site