Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #113104

Bin Xie, MD, PhD¹, Chih-Ping Chou, PhD², Donna Spruijt-Metz, MFA, PhD³, Kim D. Reynolds, PhD², Paula H. Palmer, PhD², Ping Sun, PhD², Peggy E. Gallaher, PhD⁴, Qian Guo, MD⁴, Qiaobing Wu¹, Linyun Ji, MS⁵, and C. Anderson Johnson, PhD². (1) School of Social Work, University of Southern California, 669West 34th Street, MRF102U, Los Angeles, CA 90089, (213)821-0788, bxie@usc.edu, (2) Institute for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Research, University of Southern California, 1000 S. Fremont Avenue, Unit 8, Alhambra, CA 91803, (3) Institute for Prevention Research, University of Southern California, 1000 South Fremont, unit #8, Alhambra, CA 91803, (4) Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, 1000 S. Fremont Ave. Box 8, Alhambra, CA 91803, (5) Institute for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Research, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, 1000 S. Fremont Ave. Unit # 8, Alhambra, CA 91803

The purpose is to investigate the associations between overweight status, weight perception patterns, specific weight management goals and practices, and current levels of vigorous physical activity and food consumption in female Chinese college students. Data from 902 subjects aged 18 to 25 years were analyzed from second wave of the on-going China Seven-City Study (CSCS). The CSCS is an on-going longitunial health promotion and smoking prevention study conducted in seven cities representing distinct geographic diverse regions of China. Logistic Regression was used to describe the associations. Based on the WHO standards for Asian adult population, 10.5% and 6.2% of college females were overweight (BMI between 23-24.9 Kg/m2) and obese (BMI„d25Kg/m2). Yet more than 50% of students perceived themselves as overweight, among which 69.2% misperceived their overweight status in comparison to their actual weight status. Students who were trying to lose or maintain weight were 48.2% and 33.1% respectively. Attempts to lose or maintain weight were significantly related to actual and perceived weight status, but not to having more vigorous physical activity and fruits and vegetable intakes, and less consumption of sweets, soda, Western fast foods and fried foods. Only 21.5% of students who were trying to lose or maintain weight reported ever using combined exercise with a reduced fat and calorie diet, while 20.2% reported trying extreme methods such as fasting, using diet pills, vomiting or smoking to control weight. Our findings underscore the need to promote healthy weight management practices among the Chinese female college population, with an emphasis placed on utilizing healthy weight control behavioral strategies.

Learning Objectives: From this presentation, the audience will

• Develop better understanding of the epidemic situation of obesity in Chinese female college student population
• identify pattern of weight perception, weight management goals and major weight control practices in Chinese female student population
• Articulate the needs and importance for establishing better health promotion programs for weight management in Chinese female student population.

Keywords: Obesity, Weight Management

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.