Abstract
Obesity can have serious health and psychological effects on children and adolescents. As obesity rates continue to rise, causes of the increase need to be identified. Changes in adolescent lifestyle could be partly to blame. This research examines adolescents living in a rural community to determine if relationships exist between individual lifestyle factors (physical activity, television, dieting, and nutrient intake) and obesity. Components of adolescent lifestyle also were combined using factor analysis to identify activities/habits that interrelated with one another to form a certain lifestyle that might contribute to weight gain in adolescence. Subjects who participated were from two rural communities in central Texas with ages ranging from 14-18 years. Data were obtained from a questionnaire that students completed in their health class. Statistical analysis included principal components, Pearson's correlations and linear regression. The results of this study showed very little relationship between lifestyle factors and obesity indicators; however, some of the relationships identified between physical activity, television, and nutrient intake are worthy of further investigation.
Odefey, Misti Nicole (2000). Assessing adolescent lifestyle factors and their effects on obesity indicators and nutrient intake. Master's thesis, Texas A&M University. Available electronically from
https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /ETD -TAMU -2000 -THESIS -O25.