engleski

Is fad diet a quick fix? An observational study in a Croatian student group

Objective: To determine how young adults, especially females, perceive themselves and manage their body weight. Also, the aim was to observe the impact of media bombarding with different fad diets on body weight management. Type of study: Observational research Participants: 149 young adults, age 18–24 Settings: Short questionnaires regarding body image, dieting, dietary and lifestyle habits Results: According to the BMI calculated from self-reported height and weight, 12.1 % of subjects were underweight and 16.1 % overweight. Yet, only 5.4 % of participating young adults perceived themselves as underweight, while even 21.5%perceived themselves as overweight. For females, the issue seems to lie with their feeling fat (44.0 %) to a greater extent than being overweight (26.0 %). As expected, 42.0 % of females were trying to lose weight and were dieting. The influence of media on dieting was obvious, as well as peers influence. On the other hand, although BMI’s showed that 33.3 % of males were overweight, only 16.7 % thought so, and 10.0 % of them were trying to lose weight and were dieting. Conclusions: Body weight management by dieting is widely spread among females, but is not giving quick results. Media influence is high, and popular magazines are, unfortunately, the source of diet in many cases.

young adults ; weight management ; body perception ; fad diets ; media impact

Rad je indeksiran u CAB bazi podataka, Broj pristupa 20123347951