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Body build and the desire for slenderness in young people
Author(s) -
CARROLL DENISE,
GLEESON CAROL,
RIBSBY BARBARA,
DUGDALE A. E.
Publication year - 1986
Publication title -
journal of paediatrics and child health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.631
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1440-1754
pISSN - 1034-4810
DOI - 10.1111/j.1440-1754.1986.tb00202.x
Subject(s) - medicine
The median weight‐for‐height of young people in Brisbane are below the ‘standard’ values. In most groups the weight‐for‐height are symmetrically distributed, suggesting that this is the range of normal variation. Only among girls aged 15‐19 years was there an excess of ‘obese’ subjects. Almost all girls and young women say they want to lose weight, even though many are already well below the ‘standard’. This trend is also present, but is less marked, among boys and young men. In these young people the desire for slenderness is causing unhappiness that seems out of proportion to the possible benefits of change. Health professionals should encourage a more balanced attitude to physiological variations in weight‐for‐height among young people.