Ross Whitehead1, Christina Berg2, Alina Cosma3, Inese Gobina4, Eimear Keane5, Fergus Neville3, Kristiina Ojala6, Colette Kelly5. 1. Child and Adolescent Health Research Unit, School of Medicine, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Fife, Scotland. Electronic address: rw394@st-andrews.ac.uk. 2. Department of Food and Nutrition, and Sport Science, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden. 3. Child and Adolescent Health Research Unit, School of Medicine, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Fife, Scotland. 4. Department of Public Health and Epidemiology, Riga Stradiņš University, Riga, Latvia. 5. Discipline of Health Promotion, School of Health Sciences, National University of Ireland Galway, Galway, Ireland. 6. Health Promotion Research Centre, Institute of Health Sciences, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland.
Abstract
PURPOSE: Perceiving oneself as overweight is common and strongly associated with adolescents' subjective well-being. The prevalence of overweight perceptions and their impact on well-being may have increased over the past decade due to an increase in the salience of weight-related issues. This study examines trends (2002-2014) in the prevalence of adolescent overweight perceptions and their association with psychosomatic complaints. METHODS: Data from 15-year-old adolescents were obtained between 2002 and 2014 in four rounds of the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study in 33 countries in Europe and North America (N = 187,511). Design-adjusted logistic regressions were used to quantify changes in overweight perceptions over time. Linear modeling was used to assess change in the association between perceived overweight and self-reported psychosomatic complaint burden, adjusting for overweight status. RESULTS: Among boys, 10 of 33 countries saw an increase in overweight perceptions between 2002 and 2014, with Russia, Estonia, and Latvia showing the most pronounced year-on-year increases. Only England, France, Germany, and Norway saw an increase in the positive association between overweight perceptions and psychosomatic complaints among boys. Among girls, most countries (28/33) saw no change in the prevalence of overweight perceptions, with the prevalence over 40% in most nations. However, in 12 countries, the association between overweight perceptions and psychosomatic complaints increased among girls, with particularly strong changes seen in Scotland and Norway. CONCLUSIONS: Evidence is presented which suggests that for adolescent girls in 12 Northern and Western European countries and for boys in four perceiving oneself as overweight may be increasingly deleterious for psychosomatic health. Crown
PURPOSE: Perceiving oneself as overweight is common and strongly associated with adolescents' subjective well-being. The prevalence of overweight perceptions and their impact on well-being may have increased over the past decade due to an increase in the salience of weight-related issues. This study examines trends (2002-2014) in the prevalence of adolescent overweight perceptions and their association with psychosomatic complaints. METHODS: Data from 15-year-old adolescents were obtained between 2002 and 2014 in four rounds of the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study in 33 countries in Europe and North America (N = 187,511). Design-adjusted logistic regressions were used to quantify changes in overweight perceptions over time. Linear modeling was used to assess change in the association between perceived overweight and self-reported psychosomatic complaint burden, adjusting for overweight status. RESULTS: Among boys, 10 of 33 countries saw an increase in overweight perceptions between 2002 and 2014, with Russia, Estonia, and Latvia showing the most pronounced year-on-year increases. Only England, France, Germany, and Norway saw an increase in the positive association between overweight perceptions and psychosomatic complaints among boys. Among girls, most countries (28/33) saw no change in the prevalence of overweight perceptions, with the prevalence over 40% in most nations. However, in 12 countries, the association between overweight perceptions and psychosomatic complaints increased among girls, with particularly strong changes seen in Scotland and Norway. CONCLUSIONS: Evidence is presented which suggests that for adolescent girls in 12 Northern and Western European countries and for boys in four perceiving oneself as overweight may be increasingly deleterious for psychosomatic health. Crown
Authors: Alina Cosma; Jelisaveta Belić; Ondřej Blecha; Friederike Fenski; Man Y Lo; Filip Murár; Darija Petrovic; Maria T Stella Journal: Front Psychol Date: 2017-05-18