Body Ideals and the Health-Related Attitudes of UrbanYouth

Bücher

Angebote / Angebote:

The purpose of this study was to examine the bodyappearance perceptions and health related attitudesand behaviors of urban middle school students. Twohundred and seventy eight middle school students fromtwo urban middle schools completed a questionnairepacket measuring current and perceived ideal andhealthy body size, attitudes toward physicalappearance, and attitudes and behaviors regardingphysical activity. Body mass index (BMI) data werecollected using the Biomeasure Youth MeasuringSystem. According to CDC standards, BMI dataindicated that most students were classified asat-risk for overweight. Data analysis revealedpositive attitudes toward physical activity andsignificant relationships existed between BMI andselect body appearance, physical activity, andhealthy related attitudes and perceptions. Theresults of the current study are discussed inrelation to theoretical and methodological issues inthe body appearance and physical activity literature.