Despite evidence that youth gain weight disproportionately over the summer months, few studies examine contributing obesogenic behaviors. Utilizing a mixed-methods approach, this study examined associations between summertime dietary intake patterns and executive function among 79 low-income urban minority early adolescent girls (ages 9-13 years).…

Global self-esteem, appearance satisfaction, and self-reported dieting are interrelated. This study examines the temporal ordering of global self-esteem and appearance satisfaction across the early adolescence transition, from age 10 to age 14, as well as the independent associations of self-esteem and appearance satisfaction on self-reported…

The purpose of this study was to identify the psychosocial, environmental and behavioral factors associated with calcium intake, physical activity and bone health in a cohort of adolescent girls. Baseline data (N = 718 girls, mean age: 11.6 plus or minus 0.4 years) from the Incorporating More Physical Activity and Calcium in Teens (IMPACT) study…

Early sexual maturation is associated with many high-risk behaviors and a prediction was made that food consumption may contribute to early onset of puberty. A comparison was made between the eating habits of several generations of African-American women. Girls today were found to consume more calcium, grains, and meat then older women did in…

Surveyed adolescent girls regarding body dissatisfaction, dieting, and internalization of sociocultural values, media-influenced knowledge, acceptance of varied body shapes, and media exposure. Girls understood media influence on self-image and behavior and accepted varied body shapes. Significant numbers reported dissatisfaction with weight and…

Evaluated the effectiveness of a program designed to promote body image satisfaction and prevent eating problems in young adolescent girls over a 1-year period. Found no program effect. Found instead, significant increases in body image satisfaction and decreases in eating problem scores over time for participants in both the prevention and…

Investigated implications of body-fat differences for dating and sexual activity and implications of heterosexual activity for dieting and weight concerns in adolescent girls. Found that among white girls, and blacks with college-educated mothers, more body fat was associated with lower dating probability, even among non-obese girls. Body fat was…

Risk and protective factors associated with disordered eating were examined in girls in middle-level school. Analysis showed that low competence in physical appearance, high importance of social acceptance, high self-oriented perfectionism, and low parental support were correlated significantly with reports of high levels of disordered eating.…