Association between actual weight status, perceived weight and depressive, anxious symptoms in Chinese adolescents: a cross-sectional study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Backgroud</p> <p>The purpose of this study was to describe actual measured weight and perceived weight and to explore associations with depressive, anxiety symptoms in school adolescents in China.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A sample of 1144 Chinese adolescents was randomly selected from four schools in Wuhan, China, including 665 boys and 479 girls with ages ranging between 10 and 17 years. Actual measured weight and height and perceived weight status were compared to anxiety and depressive symptoms measured using the revised Self-Rating Anxiety Scale and Children's Depression Inventory. A general linear model was used to compare differences in psychological symptoms among the teenagers with different measured and perceived weights.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>When compared with standardized weight tables (WHO age- and gender-specific body mass index (BMI) cutoffs (2007 reference)), girls were more likely to misperceive themselves as overweight, whereas more boys misclassified their weight status as underweight. The adolescents who perceived themselves as overweight were more likely to experience depressive and anxiety symptoms (except girls) than those who perceived themselves as normal and/or underweight. However, no significant association was found between depressive and anxiety symptoms actual measured weight status.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Perceived weight status, but not the actual weight status, was associated with psychological symptoms.</p

Atitudes alimentares e imagem corporal em meninas adolescentes de ascendência nipônica e caucasiana em São Paulo (SP) Eating attitudes and body image in ethnic Japanese and Caucasian adolescent girls in the city of São Paulo, Brazil

OBJETIVO: Há muita controvérsia nos estudos que analisam a relação entre etnia e transtornos alimentares a despeito do rápido aumento desses distúrbios em diversos grupos étnicos. O objetivo do presente estudo foi verificar as atitudes alimentares em adolescentes de ascendência nipônica e caucasiana no Brasil. A influência do índice de massa corporal (IMC), da menarca e das relações socioafetivas no desenvolvimento dos transtornos alimentares também foi discutida. MÉTODOS: Questionários sobre atitudes alimentares e influências socioafetivas foram aplicados a 544 adolescentes de origem nipo-brasileira e caucasiana: adolescentes pré-menarca de 10 e 11 anos nipo-brasileiras (n = 122) e caucasianas (n = 176) e adolescentes pós-menarca de 16 e 17 anos nipo-brasileiras (n = 71) e caucasianas (n = 175). RESULTADOS: Adolescentes caucasianas apresentaram maiores escores no Teste de Atitudes Alimentares (EAT-26), mostraram maior insatisfação com suas imagens corporais, faziam mais dieta e tinham mais modelos de dietas representados pelas mães e pares do que as adolescentes nipo-brasileiras. CONCLUSÃO: As adolescentes caucasianas, de um modo geral, parecem sentir mais as pressões culturais e estéticas sobre a imagem corporal do que as nipônicas. A frequência alta de meninas caucasianas pré-menarca com escore acima de 20 no EAT-26 mostra que a preocupação com a imagem corporal vem ocorrendo cada vez mais cedo. A análise de regressão múltipla revelou muitas associações entre a interação das adolescentes com suas mães e o desenvolvimento de atitudes alimentares inadequadas.<br>OBJECTIVE: Despite investigations into the rapid increase in eating disorders across diverse ethnic groups, conclusions concerning ethnicity and eating disorders are contradictory. The objective of the present study was to investigate eating attitudes in ethnic Japanese and Caucasian adolescents in Brazil. The influence of body mass index (BMI), menarche and social-affective relationships on the development of eating disorders was also assessed. METHODS: Questionnaires evaluating the incidence of eating disorders and the influence of social-affective relationships were applied to 544 Japanese-Brazilian and Caucasian adolescent girls: 10 to 11-year-old Japanese-Brazilian (n = 122) and Caucasian (n = 176) pre-menarcheal adolescents, and 16 to 17-year-old Japanese-Brazilian (n = 71) and Caucasian (n = 175) post-menarcheal adolescents. RESULTS: Caucasian girls obtained higher scores on the Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-26), showed greater body image dissatisfaction, dieted more often and had more diet models introduced by their mothers and peers than the Japanese-Brazilian girls. CONCLUSION: The Caucasian adolescents overall appeared to be more sensitive to aesthetic and social pressures regarding body image than the Japanese adolescents. The high incidence of EAT-26 scores above 20 in the Caucasian pre-menarcheal group indicates that individual body image concerns are developing at an earlier age. Multiple logistic regression revealed several associations between mother-teen interactions and the development of abnormal eating attitudes