Weight perception and suicide ideations among obese adolescents

Sanghee Lee and Abrea Johnson

BackgroundObesity among students is on the rise

- 10.7% in 1999-12.1% in 2003-13.0% in 2007

Weight perception has been linked to suicide ideations-what is weight perception?-what is suicide ideation?

Suicide is the 3rd leading cause of death in people ages 10-24

Study PurposeInvestigate gender and ethnic differences in

weight perception among obese students

Investigate gender and ethnic differences in suicide ideations among obese students

Investigate relationship between weight perception and suicide ideations including gender and ethnic differences

MethodData obtain from CDC Youth Risk Behavior

Surveillance SurveyObesity defined as BMI percentile over 95%Weight description categories defined as:

-very underweight, slightly underweight, about the right weight, slightly overweight, very overweight

Suicide ideation categories defined as:-feeling sad or hopeless, ever considered suicide, make a suicide plan, attempt suicide, all in the past 12 months

MethodDescriptive statistics:

- graphs, tables, bar charts

Inferential statistics- ANOVA, Contingency tables analysis, Binary logistic regression

Results

Weight perception- significant genderdifferences were found-obese females were more accurate in weight description than males

Results

Weight perception - significant ethnic differences were found- obese American Indians and African Americanswere the least accurate

Results

ResultsSuicide ideations

- significant differences found in feeling sad (p=.042) or hopeless and ever consider suicide (p=.015) between obese students and all students

Obese Students All Students

Feel sad or hopeless 31.5%

Feel sad or hopeless 29.3%

Consider Suicide 16.6%

Consider Suicide 14.6%

Make Suicide Plan 12.9%

Make Suicide Plan 11.5%

Attempt Suicide 8.6%

Attempt Suicide 7.5%

ResultsSuicide ideations

-significant differences found between males and females in all suicide ideation categories

ResultsObese students who described themselves as

“very overweight” were more likely to report “feeling sad or hopeless” and “ever consider suicide” than obese students that describe themselves as “about the right weight” (all p-values <.05)

Same finding for obese females vs. malesSame findings for obese Caucasians and

Hispanics

ConclusionWeight awareness programs need to target

certain populations:-African Americans-American Indians-Males

Weight loss programs that not only focus on reducing weight, but also build self esteem, especially in obese females are needed

Lifestyle changes such as:-exercise-healthy diet