The Role of School Contexts in Adolescents' Weight-Loss Behaviors and Self-Perceptions of Overweight.

Abstract

Using the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health and multi-level modeling, this study investigates the role high schools social contexts play in the development of adolescents' weight-loss behaviors and overweight self-perceptions. Overall, the results indicate that there is an important association between adolescents' weight-loss behaviors and self-perceptions of overweight and the weight-related context of their school. For example, both adolescent boys and girls are less likely to engage in weight-loss behaviors when overweight is prevalent among their same-sex schoolmates. However, gender differences are also found. For example, while adolescent boys' self-perceptions of overweight are significantly associated with their same-sex schoolmates' characteristics and behaviors, this is not the case for adolescent girls. Overall, these findings suggest that meso-level social contexts - like schools - may be particularly important to how individuals incorporate macro-level beliefs or values - like gendered body ideals - into their own behaviors and self-concepts.