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ERIC Number: EJ787485
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2008
Pages: 7
Abstractor: Author
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1499-4046
EISSN: N/A
Overweight in Adolescents: Differences per Type of Education. Does One Size Fit All?
Vissers, Dirk; Devoogdt, Nele; Gebruers, Nick; Mertens, Ilse; Truijen, Steven; Van Gaal, Luc
Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, v40 n2 p65-71 Mar-Apr 2008
Objective: To assess the lifestyle and prevalence of overweight among 16- to 18-year-old adolescents attending 4 different types of secondary education (SE). Design: Cross-sectional school-based survey. Participants: A community sample of 994 adolescents (body mass index [BMI]: 15-43 kg/m[superscript 2]). Variables Measured: Overweight and obesity were assessed by BMI. Health-related quality of life (HRQL) was assessed using the 36-item short-form (SF-36) questionnaire. The Dutch eating behavior questionnaire was administered. Lifestyle was assessed using the Baecke questionnaire and self-reported activities. Analysis: Prevalence of overweight, HRQL and lifestyle were assessed per type of education. Gender differences and differences between BMI-categories were analyzed. Results: Students in Vocational SE were significantly more likely to be overweight (18%) or obese (7.5%) compared to students in other types of SE (chi square-27.0, P less than 0.001). HRQL was significantly lower among obese girls compared to overweight (P = 0.009) or normal weight girls (P less than 0.01). Obese and overweight adolescents scored higher in restrained eating than their normal weight peers (P less than 0.001) but lower in externally induced eating (P = 0.001). Conclusions and Implications: Lifestyle and prevalence of overweight and obesity seems to differ between different types of education. This could be of importance when making health policy decisions. Health programs should focus on types of education with the highest prevalence of overweight and obesity and should be tailor-made to the specific needs of the targeted type of education.
Elsevier. 6277 Sea Harbor Drive, Orlando, FL 32887-4800. Tel: 877-839-7126; Tel: 407-345-4020; Fax: 407-363-1354; e-mail: usjcs@elsevier.com; Web site: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2131
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Netherlands
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A