Ethnic/racial differences in weight-related concerns and behaviors among adolescent girls and boys

Neumark‐Sztainer, Dianne; Croll, Jillian; Story, Mary; Hannan, Peter J.; French, Simone A.; Perry, Cheryl L.

doi:10.1016/s0022-3999(02)00486-5

Cited by 450 publications

(486 citation statements)

References 56 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

440

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…However, almost no studies have been conducted examining racial/ethnic differences in eating disorder symptoms among adolescents. One study reported higher levels of binge eating among Black and Hispanic females compared to White females (Neumark-Sztainer et al 2002). Moreover, this study found that Black females had lower body dissatisfaction than White females while Hispanic females had higher body dissatisfaction than White females.…”

Section: Eating Pathologymentioning

confidence: 55%

“…Moreover, this study found that Black females had lower body dissatisfaction than White females while Hispanic females had higher body dissatisfaction than White females. Among males, Black and Hispanic participants were more likely to engage in weight-control behaviors than White males Neumark-Sztainer et al 2002). Another study found that Black adolescents had a more positive body image than other racial/ethnic groups (Siegel et al 1999).…”

Section: Eating Pathologymentioning

confidence: 97%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Racial/Ethnic Differences in Internalizing and Externalizing Symptoms in Adolescents

McLaughlin

Hilt

Nolen–Hoeksema

2007

J Abnorm Child Psychol

314

182

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The prevalence of most adult psychiatric disorders varies across racial/ethnic groups and has important implications for prevention and intervention efforts. Research on racial/ethnic differences in the prevalence of internalizing and externalizing symptoms and disorders in adolescents has been less consistent or generally lacking. The current study examined the prevalence of these symptom groups in a large sample of sixth, seventh, and eighth graders in which the three major racial/ethnic groups in the U.S. (White, Black, and Hispanic/Latino) were well-represented. Hispanic females reported experiencing higher levels of depression, anxiety, and reputational aggression than other groups. Black males reported the highest levels of overtly aggressive behavior and also reported higher levels of physiologic anxiety and disordered eating than males from other racial/ethnic groups. Hispanic females also exhibited higher levels of comorbidity than other racial/ethnic groups. KeywordsRacial/ethnic differences; Adolescence; Anxiety; Depression; Eating pathology; Aggression Racial/ethnic differences in the prevalence of symptoms of depression (Blazer et al. 1994;Kessler et al. 1994), anxiety (Brown et al. 1990), and eating disorders (Striegel-Moore et al. 2003) have been documented in a number of studies utilizing adult samples. There has been substantially less work examining racial/ethnic differences in the prevalence of psychopathology in adolescents. Large epidemiologic studies of adolescent psychopathology have typically not focused on racial/ethnic group differences in symptoms or have not included substantial numbers of ethnic minorities. For example, in the Oregon Adolescent Depression Project (Lewinsohn et al. 1993) over 90% of participants were White. Similarly, in the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study the vast majority of participants were White (e.g., McGee et al. 1990). Understanding racial/ethnic differences in psychopathology is important for the identification of at-risk groups and targets for prevention efforts, improvement of mental health services, and as a first step in understanding the mechanisms by which risk factors confer vulnerability to psychopathology differentially on various segments of the population.The research that has been conducted examining race/ethnicity differences in adolescent psychopathology has yielded inconsistent findings about differences in the prevalence of symptoms of depression, anxiety, eating disorders, and aggression. Some studies document significant group differences (e.g., Roberts and Chen 1995;Austin and Chorpita 2004) while others have reported no differences in symptoms across groups (e.g., Cole et al. 1998).Correspondence to: Katie A. McLaughlin, katie.mclaughlin@yale.edu. Another explanation for disparate findings in studies comparing rates of symptoms in different racial/ethnic groups involves the inclusion of children and adolescents from different age groups (e.g., Kistner et al. 2003;Ollendick et al. 1996). The prevalence of inte...

show abstract

Section: Eating Pathologymentioning

confidence: 55%

Section: Eating Pathologymentioning

confidence: 97%

Racial/Ethnic Differences in Internalizing and Externalizing Symptoms in Adolescents

McLaughlin

Hilt

Nolen–Hoeksema

2007

J Abnorm Child Psychol

314

182

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…2 Yet, several studies have reported higher rates of eating disorder symptoms among Latino groups than among non-Hispanic whites or among other ethnic minority females. For example, studies have reported a higher and more severe prevalence of binge-eating among Latino females compared to White, [3][4][5] African American, 4,6 and Asian American women. 6 Population-based surveys of adolescents found that rates of dieting and using laxatives or diuretics 7 and unhealthy weight control behaviors 8 were highest among Latinas.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prevalence and correlates of eating disorders in Latinos in the United States

Alegrı́a¹,

Woo²,

Torres³

et al. 2007

Int. J. Eat. Disord.

232

140

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Objective: To present national estimates and correlates of lifetime and 12-month DSM-IV eating disorders for Latinos.Method: Data come from the National Latino and Asian American Study (NLAAS), a national epidemiological household survey of Latinos in the United States.Results: Latinos have elevated rates of any binge eating and binge eating disorder but low prevalence of anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. The US born and those living a greater percentage of their lifetime in the US evidenced higher risk for certain eating disorders while severe obesity and low levels of education were significant correlates. Rates of treatment utilization were exceedingly low. Conclusion:Standard eating disorder criteria may not be appropriate for understanding psychological morbidity of eating disorders for Latinos, particularly less acculturated Latinos, due to cultural differences in the presentation of eating disorder symptoms. Criteria for disturbed eating patterns that are more reflective of the illness experience of Latinos should be developed. V V C 2007 by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

show abstract

“…Desmond et al (14) reported that while 100 % of overweight Caucasian girls correctly classified themselves, only 40 % of overweight African American girls recognised their weight status. Similarly, Neumark-Sztainer et al (11) noted that African American adolescent girls were less likely than their Caucasian counterparts to perceive themselves as overweight despite a significantly higher prevalence of overweight. The tendency for adolescent girls of African American descent to misclassify their overweight status was further reinforced by Strauss (13) and Brener et al (7) , the latter authors also observing high rates of misclassification among overweight Hispanic girls.…”

mentioning

confidence: 97%

“…In adolescent girls, external pressures to be slim can raise the importance of body image and weight perceptions in the determination of self-concept, and can lead to the adoption of dieting and exercising for weight control (5,6) . However, a number of studies suggest that discordance between perceptions of weight and actual weight status is common in young women (7)(8)(9)(10)(11) . Misconceptions of body size are of concern given the potential for negative health outcomes: girls who incorrectly perceive themselves to be overweight may face an elevated risk of eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa (12) .…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Associations between weight perceptions, weight control and body fatness in a multiethnic sample of adolescent girls

Duncan

Schofield

2010

Public Health Nutr.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Objective: The purpose of the present study was to examine the interactions between weight perceptions, weight control behaviours and body fatness in a multiethnic sample of adolescent girls. Design: A cross-sectional study. Setting: Girls from European (37?7 %), Pacific Island (21?6 %), East Asian (15?8 %), Maori (10?2 %) and South Asian (9?6 %) populations and from other ethnicities (5?0 %). Subjects: A sample of 954 girls aged 11-15 years participated in the study. BMI was derived from height and weight, whereas body fat (BF) was determined from hand-to-foot bioimpedance measurements. Weight perceptions, weight control behaviours and pubertal stage were assessed by questionnaire. Results: Body size and fatness varied significantly across ethnic groups. Although few differences in weight perceptions were observed between BMI and %BF percentile groups, a relatively high degree of weight misclassification was evident across all BF categories. The number of girls trying to lose weight exceeded those who perceived themselves as being overweight, with the magnitude of the difference dependent on ethnicity. Of the girls trying to lose weight, the combination of dieting and exercise was the most common weight loss practice; however, a substantial proportion reported neither exercise nor dieting. Weight status perception was a stronger predictor of weight loss intent than actual BF when controlling for all other factors. Conclusions: Interventions and educational campaigns that assist girls in recognising a state of excess BF are a priority for all ethnic groups to increase the likelihood that behavioural changes necessary to combat widespread overweight and obesity are adopted.

show abstract

Ethnic/racial differences in weight-related concerns and behaviors among adolescent girls and boys

Cited by 450 publications

References 56 publications

Racial/Ethnic Differences in Internalizing and Externalizing Symptoms in Adolescents

Racial/Ethnic Differences in Internalizing and Externalizing Symptoms in Adolescents

Prevalence and correlates of eating disorders in Latinos in the United States

Associations between weight perceptions, weight control and body fatness in a multiethnic sample of adolescent girls

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About