A 5-year longitudinal study of the relationship between the wish to be thinner, lifestyle behaviours and disturbed eating in 9–20-year old girls

• The aim of this 5-year longitudinal study of 593 girls (9-20-year-old) was to examine whether the internalization of the thinness ideal in terms of “a wish to be thinner” might be related to lifestyle factors and longitudinally increase the risk of disturbed eating over time. Results showed that a wish to be thinner was related to lifestyle factors, eating attitudes and BMI longitudinally. Girls who wished to be thinner dieted more often, thought that they would be more popular if they were thinner, skipped meals, were eating breakfast more often alone and had a higher BMI compared to the girls without such a wish. Girls who wished to be thinner were 4 times more likely to develop disturbed eating attitudes over a 5-year period. These findings point to the importance of helping adolescents to establish regular eating habits, to avoid unhealthy dieting practices and to prevent sedentary behaviours that might lead to overweight and or obesity in early childhood.

Ämnesord

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Sociologi -- Socialt arbete (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Sociology -- Social Work (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

longitudinal design

wish to be thinner

lifestyle behaviours

disturbed eating

Youth research

Ungdomsforskning

SOCIAL SCIENCES

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP

Vårdvetenskap med samhällsvetenskaplig inriktning

Caring Sciences in Social Sciences

Publikations- och innehållstyp

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