Studied maintenance procedures in 201 overweight female participants who completed a very-low-calorie diet. Posed two questions: (1) Would stimulus narrowing during the reintroduction of solid food improve weight losses and the maintenance of those losses? and (2) Would reintroduction of foods dependent on progress in losing or maintaining weight…

Evaluates African American undergraduate females (N=95) for body dissatisfaction, drive for thinness, and on four dimensions of self-concept. Results indicate body dissatisfaction and drive for thinness at levels commensurate with Caucasian samples. A hierarchical multiple regression found a combination of physical self-concept, drive for…

Objective: To examine diet, physical activity, and body-weight changes associated with relocation from home to university. Methods: Diet, fitness/physical activity, body-weight parameters and self-efficacy were assessed among 54 freshman women upon college entry and 5 months later. Results: Although caloric intake significantly decreased, a…

Young adult females' attitudes toward body weight regulation contain important emotional components. To study the effects of body weight cues on emotionality, 160 college students (75 females, 85 males) completed either a body weight related (Q1) or control (Q2) questionnaire prior to taking the California Test of Personality (CTP). An analysis of…

Twenty female gymnasts between the ages of twelve and fourteen were tested to determine possible difference in strength and flexibility before and after the development of an active menstrual cycle. Results indicate that females participating in gymnastics on a seriously competitive level tend to be short and light for their ages, as well as to…

Examined cheerleaders' desire for thinness in relationship to disordered eating and weight control behaviors. A Desire for Thinness Scale and selected scales from three eating disorder instruments were administered to 751 high school cheerleaders. Cheerleaders who expressed a strong desire for thinness had significantly higher scores on seven of…

Anorexia nervosa and bulimia are major concerns for high school students, especially females. These syndromes interfere with normal functioning and social development and can be life-threatening. Definitions, characteristics, symptoms, and treatment approaches for these two eating disorders are discussed, and suggestions for involvement of the…

From original data at age 13 years on 386 North American females, statistics are presented for 10 somatic variables. Findings are compared with those of other studies. (Author/SB)

Discussed the problems girls have in disengaging themselves from their parents as psychological dependency gives way to individual growth and, sometimes, to overeating. (RK)

Anorexics were compared to female depressed controls to measure boundary impairment. Anorexics scored higher on inner-outer and conceptual boundary disturbance and produced significantly more responses that emphasized the solidity of object boundaries. Boundary scores were unrelated to degree of weight loss and global symptom severity. (Author)

Evaluated the effectiveness of spouse training for long-term weight loss. Overweight women (N=68) were assigned to one of five groups. The cooperative spouse group lost significantly more weight. That group and the nonparticipating spouse conditions maintained their weight losses at the final follow-up. The wives-alone group regained some weight.…

A phone survey of 1,007 male and female college students revealed that 1.1 percent of the women and 0.2 percent of the men were bulimic according to the revised (DSM IIIR) diagnostic criteria. At 2.2. percent, bulimia was most prevalent among undergraduate women living in group housing on campus. (Author/BJV)

This study investigated the effect of regular physical activity on body mass index (BMI) and percent body fat of Chinese girls grouped by age and physical activity patterns. Measurements of skinfold, height, and weight, and BMI calculations, found differences in BMI and percent body fat between active and inactive girls. (SM)

Used data from a longitudinal study of 16-year-old girls to test predictions about psychosocial factors in the onset of menarche. Found that family conflict and father's absence in childhood predicted an earlier age of menarche, and these factors in combination with weight showed some evidence of an additive influence on menarche. (Author/GLR)

Reports on a study of 1,915 male and female adolescents that assessed weight-related practices and concerns of smokers and nonsmokers. Smokers were less satisfied with their weight and more likely to perceive themselves as overweight than nonsmoking peers (even though the groups did not differ in body mass index). (SM)