Predicting factors of weight control behaviors among overweight female adolescents

Abstract

The purposes of this predictive correlational research were to examine weight control behaviors  and to examine the predictability of predicting factors; perceived benefit, perceived self-efficacy, perceived barriers, parents influence, and peers influence among overweight female adolescents. Four hundred and twenty-two overweight female adolescents were recruited from a purposive random sampling technique in the secondary public schools, Office of the Basic Commission, Ministry of Education. The instruments used for data collection were the demographic data, weight control behaviors questionnaire, perceived benefit, perceived barriers, perceived self-efficacy, parent influence, and peer influence. All questionnaires were tested for content validities by five panel of experts, the reliabilities were .78, .80, .85, .77, and .83, respectively. Descriptive statistic, Pearson’s product moment correlation coefficient and Multiple regression were used to analyze data. The results revealed: The mean score of  weight control behaviors in diet control, exercise, and diet pills among overweight female adolescent was at a moderate level (= 2.84, SD = 0.42). Perceived self-efficacy, parents influence, peers influence, perceived barriers, and perceived benefit  were good predictors for weight control behaviors. Variables accounted for 41.2% of total variance in weight control behaviors. The results were used to promoted for change the diet control behaviors with exercise cooperate participant by parents and peers for individually obese female adolescents, besides basing on plan and strategies for promoting weight control among overweight female adolescents. The equation derived from the standardized score was:

Z weight control behaviors = 0.460 Zperceived benefit* + 0.136 Z parents influences*+ 0.066 Zfriends influences

- 0.159 Z perceived barriers*+ 0.098 Z perceived benefit*