BLACK-WHITE DIFFERENCES IN BODY-SIZE PERCEPTIONS AND WEIGHT MANAGEMENT-PRACTICES AMONG ADOLESCENT FEMALES

Objective: This study compares body size perceptions and weight manage ment practices of black and white adolescent females. Design: Subjects were selected through a statewide, three-stage sampling procedure des igned to provide a sample statistically representative of high school students in South Carolina. Subjects: Participants included black (n = 1824) and white (n = 2256) females, 14-18 years of age, enrolled in S outh Carolina public high schools. Methods: Respondents were asked to assess their perceived body size as overweight, underweight, or about right. Self-reported weight management practices included dieting (red ucing caloric intake), exercise, and other methods (including diet pil ls and vomiting). Chi-square analysis was used to assess the differenc es in body size perception and weight management behaviors. Polychotom ous logistic regression was performed to examine associations while co ntrolling for socioeconomic status. Results: Forty-one percent of the white adolescents and 29% of the black adolescents perceive themselves as overweight (p < 0.005). In the week prior to the survey, 28% of th e white adolescents and 13% of the black adolescents reported dieting, 34% of the white versus 23% of the black adolescents reported exercis ing to lose weight; and 45% of the white and 16% of the black students reported both dieting and exercising. Polychotomous logistic regressi on analysis showed that white adolescent girls were almost twice as li kely to perceive themselves as overweight as black adolescent girls. T he white students had 6.04 [95% confidence interval (CI), 1.77, 20.67] times the odds of using pills and vomiting and 3.76 (95% CI, 2.99, 4. 72) times the odds of engaging in dieting and exercising as methods of weight management compared to the black students. Conclusions: These findings suggest that white adolescents are more likely to perceive th emselves as overweight than black adolescents and are more likelyto en gage in unhealthy weight management practices than black adolescents. (C) Society for Adolescent Medicine, 1997.