Browsing by Subject "painon kokeminen"

Purpose. Adolescent obesity is a worldwide problem. Many interventions have been created to interfere with the problem, but few of them pays attention to their possible negative impacts on adolescents' body image and weight control behavior. This study aimed to examine if sport participation affects adolescents' likelihood of feeling over- or underweight. Attempts to lose weight and gain weight were also examined. Methods. Participants were a nationally representative sample (n=4614) of American adolescents aged 12–20 participating in the first part of National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. 2399 girls and 2215 boys were examined. Sports were football, baseball/softball, cheerleading/dance, soccer, track, ice hockey, basketball, volleyball, field hockey, wrestling, tennis, swimming and other sport. Questionnaires and interviews were used for data collection. Results and conclusions. Sport participation did not increase adolescents' likelihood of feeling over- or underweight when their actual weight was controlled. After controlling for actual and perceived weight, sport participation did not increase their likelihood of trying to lose weight either. Attempts to gain weight were more common in boys participating in football, baseball/softball, track and basketball. The study encourages to prevent adolescent overweight and obesity by improving facilities for sport participation. Weight gaining behavior of boys participating in sports should be further examined.