Comparison of Health-Related Behavior between Overweight and Non- Overweight Adolescents-Running Title: Overweight and Non-Overweight Adolescent=過重與非過重青少年之健康行為比較 簡題 過重與非過重青少年

Abstract

Background: Excessive weight gain in adolescents is one of the most prevalent and potentially controllable health problems. Adolescent overweight (including obesity) continues to be an important issue for health services in Taiwan and many developed countries. Many researches related to overweight mainly focused on the genetic and environmental determinants regarding the etiology. However, few studies showed factors such as living locations and health promoting lifestyle influenced the condition of overweight. Purpose: This study aims to compare the difference of health-related behavior and associated factors between overweight and non-overweight adolescents in Taiwan . Method: A cross- sectional, descriptive and correlation design was used. Cluster analysis with SAS CATMOD and a log- linear model were applied to explore the associated factors of adolescent body size. Result: Findings showed that 358 non-overweight and 301 overweight adolescents participated in this study. Non-overweight adolescents tend to be the healthy cluster while overweight adolescents tend to be the unhealthy group. The overweight group performs health- related behaviors significantly less frequently than the non -overweight group does (including life appreciation, health responsibility, social support, stress management, nutrition and exercise) . The frequencies of TV-watching and playing computer games, associated with less health-promoting behaviors, are obviously higher in the overweight group. The log-linear model suggests that there is a direct association among TV-watching, living location, health- promoting behavior , and body size. The probability of those who watch less TV becoming non- overweight group is 1.6 times relative to those who watch more TV; that of those who live in a rural area relative to those living in an urban area is 1.4 times and those who perform more healthy behaviors is 1.3 times to become non-overweight group. Conclusions: The strongest factors associated withoverweight are (1) an increasing frequency of TV watching, (2) living in an urban area, and (3) few health-promoting behaviors. These findings could be used to further develop and refine the knowledge and strategies for the management on overweight adolescents.