Weight control practices and its associated factors among high school female-adolescents’ in Hawassa town, Ethiopia

Abstract

AbstractAdolescence, especially for females, is a period of ongoing risk behavior that triggers the development of adverse health outcomes during adulthood. This study aimed to investigate the weight control practice and its associated factors among high school female-adolescents in Hawassa town, Ethiopia. A school-based mixed cross-sectional study was conducted on 552 female-adolescents in Hawassa town, between December 2020 and January 2021. SPSS version 26 was used to perform bivariable and multivariable regression. Chi-square and Odds ratio were used to see the association in addition to Descriptive statistics of the data collected using a structured and semi-structured mixed questionnaire. BMI was calculated after taking the weight and height using a digital weight scale and stadiometer respectively of adolescent female participants. The focus group discussion was collected using an open-ended questionnaire. Among the total female-adolescents, 38.6% [95% CI = 34.5–42.8%] had experienced any of the weight control practices. The study also revealed that 25.9%, 20.5% and 7.8% of female-adolescents had experienced unhealthy, healthy and both weight control practices respectively. The multivariate regression analysis revealed that being at late adolescent age [AOR = 1.98; 95% CI = 1.33–2.95], living in a household at middle wealth status [AOR = 2.72; 95% CI = 1.60–4.63] and high wealth status [AOR = 5.69; 95% CI = 3.43–9.46], having a normal BMI [AOR = 2.36; 95% CI = 1.18–4.71] and being an overweight adolescent [AOR = 2.45; 95% CI = 1.13–5.28], having a mild depression [AOR = 1.72; 95% CI = 1.12–2.66], being dissatisfied with own mid-torso body image [AOR = 2.68; 95% CI = 1.52–4.73] were associated with exercising weight control practice. This study indicates that nearly forty percent of female-adolescents exercise weight control behaviors, of which a significant proportion of them were involved in unhealthy weight control behaviors. Factors that were associated with weight control behaviors among female adolescents should be also considered in designing healthy weight control interventions in urban settings of Ethiopia.

Keywords

• Female-adolescents
• high school
• overweight
• weight control practice
• ethiopia
• M. Luisa Escudero-Gilete, Universidad de Sevilla, Spain