‘Do i care?’ young adults' recalled experiences of early adolescent overweight and obesity: a qualitative study

<p>Objective: Individual behaviour change to reduce obesity requires awareness of, and concern about, weight. This paper therefore describes how young adults, known to have been overweight or obese during early adolescence, recalled early adolescent weight-related awareness and concerns. Associations between recalled concerns and weight-, health- and peer-related survey responses collected during adolescence are also examined.</p> <p>Design: Qualitative semi-structured interviews with young adults; data compared with responses to self-report questionnaires obtained in adolescence.</p> <p>Participants: A total of 35 participants, purposively sub-sampled at age 24 from a longitudinal study of a school year cohort, previously surveyed at ages 11, 13 and 15. Physical measures during previous surveys allowed identification of participants with a body mass index (BMI) indicative of overweight or obesity (based on British 1990 growth reference) during early adolescence. Overall, 26 had been obese, of whom 11 had BMI99.6th centile, whereas 9 had been overweight (BMI=95th–97.9th centile).</p> <p>Measures: Qualitative interview responses describing teenage life, with prompts for school-, social- and health-related concerns. Early adolescent self-report questionnaire data on weight-worries, self-esteem, friends and victimisation (closed questions).</p> <p>Results: Most, but not all recalled having been aware of their overweight. None referred to themselves as having been obese. None recalled weight-related health worries. Recollection of early adolescent obesity varied from major concerns impacting on much of an individual's life to almost no concern, with little relation to actual severity of overweight. Recalled concerns were not clearly patterned by gender, but young adult males recalling concerns had previously reported more worries about weight, lower self-esteem, fewer friends and more victimisation in early adolescence; no such pattern was seen among females. Conclusion: The popular image of the unhappy overweight teenager was not borne out. Many obese adolescents, although well aware of their overweight recalled neither major dissatisfaction nor concern. Weight-reduction behaviours are unlikely in such circumstances.</p&gt

Obesity among Scottish 15 year olds 1987–2006: prevalence and associations with socio-economic status, well-being and worries about weight

BACKGROUND: Increases in the prevalence of child and adolescent obesity have accelerated since the mid 1980s. Socio-economic status (SES)-adiposity relationships appear less clear in adolescence than childhood, and evidence on whether increasing obesity is itself patterned according to SES is inconsistent. Increasing prevalence may have increased the tolerance, and reduced recognition of, or concern about, obesity. The aim of this study is to report the prevalence of obesity and its association with SES, well-being and worries about weight among 15-year olds in 1987, 1999 and 2006. METHODS: Height and weight data obtained from 15-year olds in 1987 (N = 503), 1999 (N = 2,145) and 2006 (N = 3,019), allowed categorisation of obesity (UK90 criteria). SES was represented by parental occupational class and area deprivation; psychological wellbeing by the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) and self-esteem; weight worries by 'a lot' of worry about weight. RESULTS: Obesity prevalence was 6.7%, 10.6% and 15.9% (males), and 5.4%, 11.5% and 14.9% (females) in 1987, 1999 and 2006. Among obese males, BMIs increased over time. There was little evidence of differentials in obesity in respect of either SES measure, and none for increased disparities over time. There was no association between obesity and GHQ-12 'caseness' or (except females in 2006) self-esteem. Weight worries were more prevalent among the obese and increased over time overall, but the obesity-weight worry relationship did not change. At each date, large proportions of the obese did not worry 'a lot' about weight, while among the non-obese, up to 18.8% males and 40.1% females (in 2006) did worry. CONCLUSION: Between 1987 and 2006, prevalence of obesity among Scottish 15 year olds increased around 2.5 times. However, this increasing prevalence did not impact on the obesity-weight-worry relationship. While many obese adolescents appear unconcerned about their weight, a significant minority of the non-obese worry needlessly